Motility-sorting of self-propelled particles in micro-channels

Abstract

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.

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• Directed Autonomous Motion and Chiral Separation of Self-Propelled Janus Particles in Convection Roll Arrays
• Active Brownian Particles Escaping a Channel in Single File
• Disrupting the wall accumulation of human sperm cells by artificial corrugation
• Sorting of chiral active particles driven by rotary obstacles
• Homogeneous and heterogeneous populations of active rods in two-dimensional channels
• Active dipolar spheroids in shear flow and transverse field: Population splitting, cross-stream migration and orientational pinning