Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 26: Micro and Nanofluidics I

CPP 26.5: Talk

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 15:00–15:15, H39

Polymer Flow in Homogeneous and Structured Microchannels — •Raghunath Chelakkot, Roland G. Winkler, and Gerhard Gompper — Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich

The flow properties of polymers in microfluidic channels are governed by confinement effects and hydrodynamic interactions. We study this interplay by mesoscale hydrodynamic simulations of confined flexible and semiflexible polymers using multiparticle collision dynamics (MPC). The simulations reveal a pronounced bi-directional cross-channel migration, despite the stiffness of the polymer, governed by surface hydrodynamic interactions and anisotropies in the diffusion, respectively. Increasing polymer stiffness enhances surface induced migration. Semiflexible polymers exhibit tumbling dynamics which resembles that of a polymer in shear flow. Simulations of the transport of flexible polymers through a nanopore show that even at weak flow rates the polymers pass through the narrow region of the channel within a finite simulation time. The translocation time distribution for various flow strength has been calculated. Flow induced properties such as asymmetric stretching, relative velocities of the leading and trailing end of the polymers have also been quantified.