Communication: Clusters of absorbing disks on a reflecting wall: competition for diffusing particles

Trapping of diffusing particles by a cluster of absorbing disks on the otherwise reflecting wall is a manifestly many-body problem because of the disk competition for the particles. By replacing the cluster with an effective uniformly absorbing spot, we derive a simple formula for the rate constant that characterizes the trapping. The formula shows how the rate constant depends on the size and shape of the cluster.     

Short-time mobility of spherical particles in concentrated aqueous dispersions determined by diffusing wave spectroscopy

Summary The diffusion of optically dense, charge stabilized, polystyrene latex spheres of 500 nm radius in water at 25°C was determined by diffusing wave spectroscopy in the backscattering mode. The diffusion coefficient of the latex spheres had a value of 4.8×10^–13 m² s^–1 at infinite dilution and monotonically decreased as the number density of latex spheres increased. The diffusion coefficient dropped by a factor of 3 at 38 volume % latex and a factor of 20 at 59 volume % latex. Comparison was made to diffusion of sterically stabilized poly(methyl methacrylate) latex in refractive index matched mixed organic fluids as determined by dynamic light scattering. The concentration dependence determined by diffusing wave spectroscopy matched closely to the short-time diffusion determined by dynamic scattering and not to the long-time diffusion. Although the difference in repulsive potential between the charge and the sterically stabilized lattices must be large, it has a surprisingly small effect on the translational diffusion of the latex over distances small compared to the intersphere distance.     

Accumulation and trapping of hepatitis A virus particles by electrohydrodynamic flow and dielectrophoresis

Hepatitis A virus particles (d = 27 nm) were successfully accumulated and trapped in a microfluidic system by means of a combination of electrohydrodynamic flow and dielectrophoretic forces. Electric fields were generated in a field cage consisting of eight microelectrodes. In addition, high medium conductance (0.3 S/m) resulted in sufficient Joule heating and the corresponding spatial variation of temperature, density, and permittivity to induce electrohydrodynamic flow in the vicinity of the field cage. Flow vortices transport particles toward the center of the field cage, where dielectrophoretic forces cause permanent entrapment and particle aggregation. Spatial distribution of temperature, density, and permittivity as well as resulting flow patterns were modeled numerically and are in good agreement with experimental results. This accumulation scheme might be applicable to sample concentration enhancement in biosensor applications.     

The surface modification of boron nitride particles

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The use of coupling agents to enhance the thermal conductivity of composites of epoxy and boron nitride (BN) has been investigated. Two types of BN...     

Patterning reactive microdomains inside polydimethylsiloxane microchannels by trapping and melting functional polymer particles

This paper describes a facile technique to pattern reactive microdomains inside polydimethylsiloxane microchannels by utilizing polymer particles as the carrier of functional groups. The air/liquid interface formed in microchannels equipped with microwells exerts lateral force on the particles, trapping particles only inside the wells. We then fix the polymer matrix on the wells by melting the trapped particles to form reactive domains with flexible shapes and high resolution. We employed monodisperse poly(styrene-co-glycidyl methacrylate) microparticles having an epoxy group and patterned various types of microdomains with a resolution of several micrometers. Several tests confirmed the presence of the epoxy group and the flatness of the patterned domain. The presented scheme provides a new way of preparing highly functional microsystems by using simple operations and would be useful for various applications, including local patterning of graft polymers and the site-specific cultivation of cells in a confined space.     

Complex organizing centers in groups of oscillatory particles

We investigate the origin and evolution of spatiotemporal complexity in a system of locally coupled Belousov-Zhabotinsky chemical oscillators. Using a combination of high resolution microscopy and fine grain numerical modeling, we demonstrate that the behavior arises from an initial phase heterogeneity of the oscillators. This heterogeneity produces wave breaks in the system with the free ends becoming pinned to holes in the medium. The fastest of these pinned tips behave as reentrant circuits that phase set the rest of the medium. The slower tips are repeatedly destroyed and then re-created by the central circuit. The resulting spatiotemporal pattern repeats with the frequency of the reentrant circuit, with its spatial structure depending on the location of the initial wave breaks.     

Surface transport and stable trapping of particles and cells by an optical waveguide loop

Waveguide trapping has emerged as a useful technique for parallel and planar transport of particles and biological cells and can be integrated with lab-on-a-chip applications. However, particles trapped on waveguides are continuously propelled forward along the surface of the waveguide. This limits the practical usability of the waveguide trapping technique with other functions (e.g. analysis, imaging) that require particles to be stationary during diagnosis. In this paper, an optical waveguide loop with an intentional gap at the centre is proposed to hold propelled particles and cells. The waveguide acts as a conveyor belt to transport and deliver the particles/cells towards the gap. At the gap, the diverging light fields hold the particles at a fixed position. The proposed waveguide design is numerically studied and experimentally implemented. The optical forces on the particle at the gap are calculated using the finite element method. Experimentally, the method is used to transport and trap micro-particles and red blood cells at the gap with varying separations. The waveguides are only 180 nm thick and thus could be integrated with other functions on the chip, e.g. microfluidics or optical detection, to make an on-chip system for single cell analysis and to study the interaction between cells.     

Determination of surface area of copolymer latex particles by surface tension measurements

The surface tension γ of four copolymer latices, of their respective serums, and of aqueous solutions of dispersant alone were measured at various dilutions. By extrapolating the surface excess of dispersant (calculated by the Gibbs adsorption equation) both at the aqueous solution surface and at the serum surfaces to 1/c = 0 (c being the bulk concentration of dispersant) the same limiting site area A_lim per adsorbed molecule was determined. Amounts of dispersant adsorbed by copolymer particles at various dilutions were determined from differences between the known total concentrations of the dispersant in latex and in serum at the same γ. These values were then extrapolated to the maximum adsorption at 1/c = 0 in latex. The surface area of copolymer particles was determined therefrom by using A_lim. The average particle radius calculated this way agrees reasonably well with electron microscope measurements. Thus it appears that the method for determining latex particle surface area by surfactant titration may be calibrated by means of the Gibbs adsorption equation, provided one uses A_lim and not the site area at the critical micelle concentration of dispersant.     

Brush-sheathed particles diffusing at brush-coated surfaces in the thermally responsive PNIPAAm system

Phase-contrast microscopy and particle tracking algorithms are used to study the near-surface diffusion of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) brush functionalized micron-sized silica microspheres after sedimentation from aqueous suspension onto planar substrates coated with a similar polymer brush above and below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAAm, 32 degrees C. A small negative charge on the wall and the particles (zeta potential = -6 mV) prevents adhesion above and below the LCST. The near-surface translational diffusion coefficient (D(surface)) is compared to the bulk-phase translational diffusion coefficient (D(bulk)), which was measured by dynamic light scattering. We find that D(surface)/D(bulk) is approximately equal to 0.6 at temperatures T < 32 degrees C but rises abruptly to approximately 0.8-0.9 at T > 32 degrees C. Near-surface diffusion is expected to be slower than bulk diffusion owing to hydrodynamic coupling to the wall, implying reduced hydrodynamic coupling at the higher temperatures, perhaps mediated by enhanced electrostatic repulsion above the LCST transition.     

Insulator-based dielectrophoretic focusing and trapping of particles in non-Newtonian fluids

Insulator-based dielectrophoretic (iDEP) microdevices have been limited to work with Newtonian fluids. We report an experimental study of the fluid rheological effects on iDEP focusing and trapping of polystyrene particles in polyethylene oxide, xanthan gum, and polyacrylamide solutions through a constricted microchannel. Particle focusing and trapping in the mildly viscoelastic polyethylene oxide solution are slightly weaker than in the Newtonian buffer. They are, however, significantly improved in the strongly viscoelastic and shear thinning polyacrylamide solution. These observed particle focusing behaviors exhibit a similar trend with respect to electric field, consistent with a revised theoretical analysis for iDEP focusing in non-Newtonian fluids. No apparent focusing of particles is achieved in the xanthan gum solution, though the iDEP trapping can take place under a much larger electric field than the other fluids. This is attributed to the strong shear thinning-induced influences on both the electroosmotic flow and electrokinetic/dielectrophoretic motions.     

In Grignard reagent formation from cyclopropyl bromide in diethyl ether, trapping by DCPH is consistent with diffusing cyclopropyl radical intermediates

[reaction: see text] For reactions of magnesium with cyclopropyl bromide in diethyl ether, added DCPH decreases the yield of cyclopropylmagnesium bromide by as much as 75%, while solvent-derived products disappear and cyclopropylcyclohexylphosphine and tetracyclohexyldiphosphine appear. These changes reflect trapping of diffusing intermediate cyclopropyl radicals.     

The sol-gel transition in gelatin viewed by diffusing colloidal probes

This paper reports a dynamic light scattering investigation of the sol-gel transition of gelatin solutions in the presence of latex spheres, which act as local probes for the viscoelasticity of the medium. The experimental procedure allows us to define a local gel time related to the size of the probes. In the sol state and in the gelling solutions, below the gel point, the dependence of the apparent diffusion coefficients of the spheres on correlation times, shows the existence of a fast local diffusion coefficient and of a slow long-term diffusion coefficient, related to viscosity. The behaviour of the fast diffusion coefficient during the course of gelation was quite unexpected, as it remained constant until the moment when the network was formed, when it suddenly started to increase. We propose a model for the diffusion of spherical particles in a viscoelastic medium (Voigt model) by using the Langevin equation. The experimental results are compared to the model. This investigation shows evidence for the coupling between the cooperative movements of the gel network and the local diffusion of the spheres. It illustrates the diffusion of particles through a disordered medium which leads to non-brownian, hypodiffusive regimes.     

Nature and centers of localization of extraframework particles in Y zeolite dealuminated by silicon tetrachloride

X-ray diffraction, XPS, and NMR have been used to investigate the nature and centers of localization of nonframework particles in Y zeolite dealuminated by silicon tetrachloride. It has been established that the reaction products formed upon dealumination consist mainly of aluminum compounds that migrate from the volume of the zeolite to the surface and are also partially localized in internal supercages and small cages (sodalite cells). Water washing removes the particles localized in the supercages but does not affect the particles localized in sodalite cells. It has been shown that, by plotting maps of electron density on the basis of x-ray powder diffraction patterns, the sites of localization of extraframework particles can be determined. The results are consistent with those obtained by other methods, and the maps of electron density give a graphic picture of changes in internal structure of the Y zeolite.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1729–1734, August, 1989.The authors wish to express their appreciation to V. M. Mastikhin for assistance in taking the²⁷Al and²⁹Si NMR spectra.     

Collision efficiencies of diffusing spherical particles: hydrodynamic,van der waals and electrostatic forces

A practical limitation of the application of Smoluchowski's classical estimate for the collisions probability of two diffusing spherical particles in Brownian motion is the non-consideration of interparticle forcves. For suspended particles in water such forces can arise from the disturbance the particle causes in the fluid (hydrodynamic forces), from the cloud of ions which surround an electrically charged particle (double layer forces) or they can be of molecular origin (van der Waals forces). In this paper corrections to Smoluckhowski's collision probability are computed when such forces operate Scoluchowski's collision probability are computed when such forces operate between two approaching particles of various sizes. Results for several values of the van der Waals energy of attraction and the ionic strength of the electrolyte are presented in a way convenient for particle collision modeling.     

Latex spheres as carriers of surface active centers

Poly(methyl methacrylate) spheres with surface-attached D,L-α-alanine were exposed to γ-irradiation. It was found that only one of the two known stable alanine radicals is generated on the polymer surface as a consequence of the bonding on the specific backbone group. The sensitivity of ESR spectroscopy for the determination of extremely small numbers of reactive sites was demonstrated.     

Quantitative surface analysis of urban airborne particles by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been used to determine the species present in urban particulate matter collected in the city of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) and in an industrial area near to Cagliari. Samples were collected on both cellulose and glass fiber filters. Elemental identification, chemical state and quantitative analyses of the examined samples indicated the presence of Na3AlF6, SiO2 and Al2O3 in the ratio 2:2:5, carbon and oxygen being the major components. The results obtained on NIST SRM 1648 urban particulate matter, before and after grinding, are also presented.     

Quantum studies of H atom trapping on a graphite surface

The trapping and sticking of H and D atoms on the graphite (0001) surface is examined, over the energy range of 0.1-0.9 eV. For hydrogen to chemisorb onto graphite, the bonding carbon must pucker out of the surface plane by several tenths of an angstrom. A quantum approach in which both the hydrogen and the bonding carbon atoms can move is used to model the trapping, and a potential energy surface based on density functional theory calculations is employed. It is found, for energies not too far above the 0.2 eV barrier to chemisorption that a significant fraction of the incident H or D atoms can trap. The forces on the bonding carbon are large, and it can reconstruct within 50 fs or so. After about 100 fs, most of the trapped H atoms scatter back into the gas phase, but the 5%-10% that remain can have lifetimes on the order of a picosecond or more. Calculations of the resonance eigenstates and lifetimes confirm this. An additional lattice degree of freedom is included quantum mechanically and is shown to significantly increase the amount of H that remains trapped after 1 ps. Further increasing the incident energy destabilizes the trapped state, leading to less H remaining trapped at long times. We estimate that for a full dissipative bath, the sticking probabilities should be on the order of 0.1.