| Issue |
EPL
Volume 107, Number 3, August 2014
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 36003 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| Section | Condensed Matter: Structural, Mechanical and Thermal Properties | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/107/36003 | |
| Published online | 28 July 2014 | |
Motility-sorting of self-propelled particles in microchannels
Theoretical Soft Matter and Biophysics, Institute of Complex Systems, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH D-52425 Jülich, Germany
Received: 23 March 2014
Accepted: 8 July 2014
Spontaneous segregation of run-and-tumble particles with different velocities in microchannels is investigated by numerical simulations. Self-propelled particles are known to accumulate in the proximity of walls. Here we show how fast particles expel slower ones from the wall leading to a segregated state. The mechanism is understood as a function of particle velocities, particle density, or channel width. In the presence of an external fluid flow, particles with two different velocities segregate due to their different particle fluxes. Promising applications can be found in the development of microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices for sorting of particles with different motilities.
PACS: 64.75.Gh – Phase separation and segregation in model systems (hard spheres, Lennard-Jones, etc.) / 87.10.Mn – Stochastic modeling / 05.65.+b – Self-organized systems
© EPLA, 2014
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