The rheology of polydisperse colloidal suspensions in spherical confinement
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In this work, we present a computational study of the rheology and dynamics of spherically-confined polydisperse suspensions of hydrodynamically interacting colloids, a simple model system that provides an important framework for studying the behavior of living and non-living confined colloidal suspensions. Colloids are microscopically small particles suspended in a solvent. Examples include the cytoplasm of biological cells, micro-reactor vesicles, and particle-laden droplets ubiquitous in additive manufacturing and industrial coatings. Here we present an extension of the Confined Stokesian Dynamics algorithm (CSD) capable of modeling the bulk rheology of confined colloidal suspensions of arbitrary particle-size distribution, at and away from equilibrium. We will present novel hydrodynamic functions we developed that couple particle dynamics to suspension properties and, after a brief overview of the CSD algorithm, the results of a systematic study of the impact of changes in confinement and size polydispersity on equilibrium structure and dynamics. We showed that an interplay between polydispersity and confinement reveals demixing and localized dynamics that help explain our previous discovery that such dynamics control the speedup of protein synthesis in faster-growing bacteria. Next, we will present a new theoretical framework we developed for measuring the intrinsic viscosity and osmotic pressure in confined suspensions. The first significant outcome of this work was that tighter confinement and crowding significantly increase equilibrium viscous dissipation and osmotic pressure compared to unconfined suspensions. This result is important for the rational design of biochemical tests, where up to now, only the effect of passive crowders was taken into account. The second significant outcome of this work was the modeling of strong departures from equilibrium, including a representation of biomolecules localized at one pole of the cavity that subsequently diffuse - mimicking the Min cycle in E. coli our work shows that concentration gradients inside cells increase the residence time of proteins close to the membrane, which is beneficial for Min-protein membrane reaction kinetics that promotes correct cell division. Finally, we will present three other significant theoretical developments in the field of microhydrodynamics done in service of the underlying theoretical framework of our model.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2021; ©2021 |
| Publication date | 2021; 2021 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Gonzalez Gonzalez, Emma del Carmen |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Zia, Roseanna |
| Thesis advisor | Zia, Roseanna |
| Thesis advisor | Fuller, Gerald G |
| Thesis advisor | Shaqfeh, Eric S. G. (Eric Stefan Garrido) |
| Degree committee member | Fuller, Gerald G |
| Degree committee member | Shaqfeh, Eric S. G. (Eric Stefan Garrido) |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Chemical Engineering |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Emma del Carmen Gonzalez Gonzalez. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Chemical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2021. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/pp369zj7419 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2021 by Emma del Carmen Gonzalez Gonzalez
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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