Effect of small particles on the near-wall dynamics of a large particle in a highly bidisperse colloidal solution

Sukalyan Bhattacharya, Jerzy Blawzdziewicz
2008 Journal of Chemical Physics  
We consider the hydrodynamic effect of small particles on the dynamics of a much larger particle moving normal to a planar wall in a highly bidisperse dilute colloidal suspension of spheres. The gap h_0 between the large particle and the wall is assumed to be comparable to the diameter 2a of the smaller particles so there is a length-scale separation between the gap width h_0 and the radius of the large particle b<<h_0. We use this length-scale separation to develop a new lubrication theory
more » ... h takes into account the presence of the smaller particles in the space between the larger particle and the wall. The hydrodynamic effect of the small particles on the motion of the large particle is characterized by the short time (or high frequency) resistance coefficient. We find that for small particle-wall separations h_0, the resistance coefficient tends to the asymptotic value corresponding to the large particle moving in a clear suspending fluid. For h_0<<a, the resistance coefficient approaches the lubrication value corresponding to a particle moving in a fluid with the effective viscosity given by the Einstein formula.
doi:10.1063/1.2917339 pmid:18537444 fatcat:y77lxne5dne5djpfikkb7ij674