Abstract
Driven transport of dilute polymer solutions through porous media has been simulated using a recently proposed novel dissipative particle dynamics method satisfying the no-penetration and no-slip boundary conditions. The porous media is an array of overlapping spherical cavities arranged in a simple cubic lattice. Simulations were performed for linear, ring, and star polymers with 12 arms for two cases with the external force acting on (I) both polymer and solvent beads to model a pressure-driven flow; (II) polymer beads only, similar to electrophoresis. When the external force is in the direction of a principal axis, the extent of change in the polymers’ conformation and their alignment with the driving force is more significant for case I. These effects are most pronounced for linear chains, followed by rings and stars at the same molecular weight. Moreover, the polymer mean velocity is affected by its molecular weight and architecture as well as the direction and strength of the imposed force.
Highlights
IntroductionDriven transport of polymers in confined geometries by means of an imposed flow or electric field is encountered in numerous applications including enhanced oil recovery [1], DNA electrophoresis in gels [2] and micro-fabricated devices [3,4], micro-fluidic flows [5]
Colloids Interfaces 2021, 5, 22. https://Driven transport of polymers in confined geometries by means of an imposed flow or electric field is encountered in numerous applications including enhanced oil recovery [1], DNA electrophoresis in gels [2] and micro-fabricated devices [3,4], micro-fluidic flows [5]and chromatography [6]
The distortion of the polymer conformation from the equilibrium state is greater when the external force acts upon polymer and solvent beads as compared to when it acts upon the polymer only
Summary
Driven transport of polymers in confined geometries by means of an imposed flow or electric field is encountered in numerous applications including enhanced oil recovery [1], DNA electrophoresis in gels [2] and micro-fabricated devices [3,4], micro-fluidic flows [5]. To study the effect of Schmidt number (Sc) upon cross-stream migration of polymers undergoing pressure-driven flow in nanoscale slits They observed a migration away from the walls with increasing Sc. A similar observation was reported for DPD simulations of polymer solutions undergoing shear flow in a slit [15]. The effects of polymer architecture and complex wall geometry upon the spatial distribution and transport rate of confined polymer chains have been explored in a few recent studies using DPD simulations. The present study aims to address these gaps in the literature by applying DPD simulations to investigate the driven transport of dilute polymer solutions in 3D porous media, which consists of interconnected spherical cavities constructed through assembly of colloidal particles [6,22,25].
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