Self-propulsion against a moving membrane: enhanced accumulation and drag force

Abstract

Self-propulsion (SP) is a main feature of active particles (AP), such as bacteria or biological micromotors, distinguishing them from passive colloids. A renowned consequence of SP is accumulation at static interfaces, even in the absence of hydrodynamic interactions. Here we address the role of SP in the interaction between AP and a moving semipermeable membrane. In particular, we implement a model of noninteracting AP in a channel crossed by a partially penetrable wall, moving at a constant velocity $c$. With respect to both the cases of passive colloids with $c>0$ and AP with $c=0$, the AP with finite $c$ show enhancement of accumulation in front of the obstacle and experience a largely increased drag force. This effect is understood in terms of an effective potential localised at the interface between particles and membrane, of height proportional to $c\tau /\xi$, where $\tau$ is the AP's re-orientation time and $\xi$ the width characterising the surface's smoothness ($\xi \to 0$ for hard core obstacles). An approximate analytical scheme is able to reproduce the observed density profiles and the measured drag force, in very good agreement with numerical simulations. The effects discussed here can be exploited for automatic selection and filtering of AP with desired parameters.

arXiv comment13 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• Membrane penetration and trapping of an active particle
• Time-dependent properties of interacting active matter: dynamical behavior of one-dimensional systems of self-propelled particles
• Statistical Mechanics of Transport Processes in Active Fluids II: Equations of Hydrodynamics for Active Brownian Particles
• Microscopic theory for the diffusion of an active particle in a crowded environment
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• Currents and flux-inversion in photokinetic active particles
• Theory of active particle penetration through a planar elastic membrane
• On the effect of boundaries on noninteracting weakly active particles in different geometries
• Dynamical response of a system of passive or active swimmers to time-periodic forcing