Kinetics of Colloidal Particle Deposition From Electrokinetic Microfluidic Flows

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental investigation on the irreversible deposition of colloidal particles from electrokinetic microfluidic flow in parallel plate channels. The electrokinetic particle transport model presented in this study is based on the stochastic Langevin equation, incorporating the electrical, hydrodynamic, DLVO colloidal interactions and random Brownian motion of colloidal particles. The particle trajectories are computed via the Brownian dynamics simulation technique and the particle deposition is quantified in terms of the surface coverage. Direct videomicroscopic observation using the parallel-plate flow cell technique, is employed to determine the deposition kinetics of polystyrene latex particles in NaCl electrolytes. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental results, and a reasonable agreement is found.