The effects of gravity on the aggregation and the gelation of colloids

Hydrodynamic stability criterion for colloidal gelation under gravity

Attractive colloids diffuse and aggregate to form gels, solidlike particle networks suspended in a fluid. Gravity is known to strongly impact the stability of gels once they are formed. However, its effect on the process of gel formation has seldom been studied. Here, we simulate the effect of gravity on gelation using both Brownian dynamics and a lattice-Boltzmann algorithm that accounts for hydrodynamic interactions. We work in a confined geometry to capture macroscopic, buoyancy-induced flows driven by the density mismatch between fluid and colloids. These flows give rise to a stability criterion for network formation, based on an effective accelerated sedimentation of nascent clusters at low volume fractions that disrupts gelation. Above a critical volume fraction, mechanical strength in the forming gel network dominates the dynamics: the interface between the colloid-rich and colloid-poor region moves downward at an ever-decreasing rate. Finally, we analyze the asymptotic state, the colloidal gel-like sediment, which we find not to be appreciably impacted by the vigorous flows that can occur during the settling of the colloids. Our findings represent the first steps toward understanding how flow during formation affects the life span of colloidal gels.

Toward a flow-dependent phase-stability criterion: Osmotic pressure in sticky flowing suspensions

Equilibrium phase instability of colloids is robustly predicted by the Vliegenthart-Lekkerkerker (VL) critical value of the second virial efficient, but no such general criterion has been established for suspensions undergoing flow. A transition from positive to negative osmotic pressure is one mechanical hallmark of a change in phase stability in suspensions and provides a natural extension of the equilibrium osmotic pressure encoded in the second virial coefficient. Here, we propose to study the non-Newtonian rheology of an attractive colloidal suspension using the active microrheology framework as a model for focusing on the pair trajectories that underlie flow stability. We formulate and solve a Smoluchowski relation to understand the interplay between attractions, hydrodynamics, Brownian motion, and flow on particle microstructure in a semi-dilute suspension and utilize the results to study the viscosity and particle-phase osmotic pressure. We find that an interplay between attractions and hydrodynamics leads to dramatic changes in the nonequilibrium microstructure, which produces a two-stage flow-thinning of viscosity and leads to pronounced flow-induced negative osmotic pressure. We summarize these findings with an osmotic pressure heat map that predicts where hydrodynamic enhancement of attractive bonds encourages flow-induced aggregation or phase separation. We identify a critical isobar-a flow-induced critical pressure consistent with phase instability and a nonequilibrium extension of the VL criterion.

Enhanced aggregation and sedimentation of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) with polyacrylamide modification

Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) settled slowly and incompletely in a nano-iron reactor (NIR) in wastewater treatment, and the effluent quality and processing capacity of nZVI were degenerated. Herein, three types of polyacrylamide (PAM), anionic-APAM (nZVI^APAM), cationic-CPAM (nZVI^CPAM), and nonionic-NPAM (nZVI^NPAM)) were applied to modify the nZVI (nZVI^PAM), which were proved to enhance aggregation and sedimentation in the gravity settling clarifier of NIR. PAM modification lead to aggregate by forming large agglomerates. The median sizes of aggregates were 32, 194, 168 and 133 μm respectively for nZVI, nZVI^CPAM, nZVI^NPAM, and nZVI^APAM. Under quiescent conditions, bare nZVI needed 5 min to reach sedimentation equilibrium, while nZVI^PAM just within 1 min nZVI^CPAM settled more quickly and completely than nZVI^NPAM and nZVI^APAM. The Fe concentration in the dynamic flow NIR effluent could keep a low level for 8 h for nZVI^PAM, while bare nZVI for 6 h. Iron concentration was 3.11, 0.037, 0.93, and 1.20 mg·L^-1 for nZVI, nZVI^CPAM, nZVI^NPAM, and nZVI^APAM after 8-h-reaction. Meanwhile, the reactivity of nZVI^PAM was kept much longer for lead removal in the NIR. Results demonstrated PAM modifications (especially CPAM) provided a reliable solution for nZVI aggregation and sedimentation in wastewater treatment.

Entrainment of mammalian motile cilia in the brain with hydrodynamic forces

Motile cilia are widespread across the animal and plant kingdoms, displaying complex collective dynamics central to their physiology. Their coordination mechanism is not generally understood, with previous work mainly focusing on algae and protists. We study here the entrainment of cilia beat in multiciliated cells from brain ventricles. The response to controlled oscillatory external flows shows that flows at a similar frequency to the actively beating cilia can entrain cilia oscillations. We find that the hydrodynamic forces required for this entrainment strongly depend on the number of cilia per cell. Cells with few cilia (up to five) can be entrained at flows comparable to cilia-driven flows, in contrast with what was recently observed in Chlamydomonas Experimental trends are quantitatively described by a model that accounts for hydrodynamic screening of packed cilia and the chemomechanical energy efficiency of the flagellar beat. Simulations of a minimal model of cilia interacting hydrodynamically show the same trends observed in cilia.

Aggregate of nanoparticles: rheological and mechanical properties

The understanding of the rheological and mechanical properties of nanoparticle aggregates is important for the application of nanofillers in nanocompoistes. In this work, we report a rheological study on the rheological and mechanical properties of nano-silica agglomerates in the form of gel network mainly constructed by hydrogen bonds. The elastic model for rubber is modified to analyze the elastic behavior of the agglomerates. By this modified elastic model, the size of the network mesh can be estimated by the elastic modulus of the network which can be easily obtained by rheology. The stress to destroy the aggregates, i.e., the yield stress (σy), and the elastic modulus (G') of the network are found to be depended on the concentration of nano-silica (ϕ, wt.%) with the power of 4.02 and 3.83, respectively. Via this concentration dependent behavior, we can extrapolate two important mechanical parameters for the agglomerates in a dense packing state (ϕ = 1): the shear modulus and the yield stress. Under large deformation (continuous shear flow), the network structure of the aggregates will experience destruction and reconstruction, which gives rise to fluctuations in the viscosity and a shear-thinning behavior.

Sedimentation Study of Biphasic Calcium Phosphate Particles

Injectable calcium phosphate (CaP) biomaterial is considered as an injectable bone substitute (IBS). It was developed to minimize invasive surgery in various applications in orthopedic and dental surgery. The IBS considered of a polymer solution mixed with biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) ceramic particles. Two particle sizes of BCP (40-80 and 80-200μm) were used and the weight ratio was 40%. This study investigated the influence of polymer solution on the BCP particles stability. Effects of particles size and limiting viscosity of polymer on the sedimentation were studied. The polymer concentration and particles size can be adapted to provide the best stability and storage of IBS.

Aggregation and sedimentation of aqueous nanoscale zerovalent iron dispersions

Nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) rapidly transforms many environmental contaminants to benign products and is a promising in-situ remediation agent. To be effective, NZVI should form stable dispersions in water such that it can be delivered in water-saturated porous media to the contaminated area. Limited mobility of NZVI has been reported, however, attributed to its rapid aggregation. This study uses dynamic light scattering to investigate the rapid aggregation of NZVI from single nanoparticles to micrometer size aggregates, and optical microscopy and sedimentation measurements to estimate the size of interconnected fractal aggregates formed. The rate of aggregation increased with increasing particle concentration and increasing saturation magnetization (i.e., the maximum intrinsic magnet moment) of the particles. During diffusion limited aggregation the primary particles (average radius = 20 nm) aggregate to micrometer-size aggregates in only 10 min, with average hydrodynamic radii ranging from 125 nm to 1.2 microm at a particle concentration of 2 mg/L (volume fraction(phi= 3.2 x 10(-7)) and 60 mg/L (phi = 9.5 x 10(-6)), respectively. Subsequently, these aggregates assemble themselves into fractal, chain-like clusters. At an initial concentration of just 60 mg/L, cluster sizes reach 20-70 microm in 30 min and rapidly sedimented from solution. Parallel experiments conducted with magnetite and hematite, coupled with extended DLVO theory and multiple regression analysis confirm that magnetic attractive forces between particles increase the rate of NZVI aggregation as compared to nonmagnetic particles.

Heteroflocculation of binary latex dispersions of similar chemistry but varying size

The stability of dilute bimodal (diameter:100 and 200 nm) model latex dispersions is studied as a function of electrolyte concentration and particle number fraction by measuring perikinetic aggregation with dynamic light scattering. A formally correct expression for the effective, doublet stability ratio of a bimodal system is derived that accounts for the difference in the particle size and hence, extends the derivation by Hogg and co-workers [Trans. Faraday Soc. 62 (1966) 1638]. Including the particle size ratio predicts slightly lower stability ratios for polydisperse but chemically similar systems. Stability ratios for binary mixtures of model colloidal latices are extracted from aggregation measurements in the fractal aggregation regime and are compared to predictions based on DLVO calculations of the potential. The results suggest that the composition of the aggregates is dependent on the relative stability of the two components (and consequently, on electrolyte concentration) and is richer in the least stable component.

Estimation of fractal dimension of colloidal gels in the presence of multiple scattering

Colloidal dispersions of fluorinated polymer particles with a refractive index very close to that of water, have been used to investigate the effect of multiple scattering on the estimated fractal dimension of colloidal gels, at high-particle volume fractions. The extent of multiple scattering was varied by using cuvettes of different internal diameters, from 3 to 18 mm. Three gelation systems with different sizes and volume fractions of primary particles have been characterized by static light scattering SLS. The obtained results indicate that multiple scattering affects only the magnitude of the scattered radiation, but not the estimated fractal dimension of the gels. This result confirms the conclusion of the theoretical study reported by Chen et al. [Phys. Rev. B 37, 5232 (1988)]. As a further confirmation, the same gels have been formed in a specially designed cell, with only 0.1 mm thickness (where multiple scattering is negligible) and characterized using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). It is found that the fractal dimension estimated from SANS measurements, without multiple scattering, is the same as that estimated from SLS measurements, in the presence of substantial multiple scattering.

Perikinetic Aggregation of Alkoxylated Silica Particles in Two Dimensions

Aggregation and cluster formation of a two-dimensional colloidal system consisting of 2-µm alkoxylated silica particles trapped at the air-toluene interface have been studied. This novel system allows particle interactions to be controlled by varying the length of the grafted alkyl chains; simple estimates suggest particle bond strengths of 15 and 30 kT for the octadecyl- and octyl-coated system, respectively. Video-enhanced microscopy and image analysis enabled a simultaneously study of kinetics and structure of the ensemble of clusters in situ. The octyl system displayed a DLCA-like structure, D(f) approximately 1.45, whereas the octadecyl system resulted in a more dense structure, D(f) approximately 1.55. The temporal evolution of the cluster-mass distribution displayed a transition point between regimes of slower and faster aggregation for both systems, which was interpreted as a transition from DLCA to convection-limited cluster aggregation (CLCA). Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Viscoelastic Properties of Particle Gels

The effect of strength of attraction and volume fraction on the mechanical properties of alumina particle networks were investigated. Alumina particle gels were formed reversibly and in situ in the rheometer by cooling alumina particle suspensions with adsorbed poly(12-hydroxy stearic acid) suspended in a marginal solvent, hexanol. The collapse of the polymer layer with decreasing solvency (temperature) induces flocculation when the long-range van der Waals force overcomes the remaining steric repulsion. The gelation temperature depends on volume fraction. At the gel temperature, Tgel, the gel becomes predominantly elastic; at temperatures below Tgel, the elasticity increases with decreasing temperature. We find that the elastic modulus data, measured over a wide range of volume fraction (0.2 < &phi; < 0.425) and temperature (10-14 degreesC), follows: G = G0(&phi; - &phi;g)s. This scaling suggests the prefactor and exponent to be independent of temperature. We present some arguments for why subjecting a particle gel to a preshear procedure might result in an temperature-dependent prefactor. By invoking such an effect, we are able to rescale and collapse previously published moduli data on presheared suspensions according to the (&phi; - &phi;g) expression. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.