Diffusion of interacting particles in a channel with reflection boundary conditions

Abstract

The diffusive transport of biased Brownian particles in a two-dimensional symmetric channel is investigated numerically considering both the no-flow and the reflection boundary conditions at the channel boundaries. Here, the geometrical confinement leads to entropic barriers which effectively control the transport properties of the particles. We show that compared to no-flow boundary conditions, the transport properties exhibit distinct features in a channel with reflection boundary conditions. For example, the nonlinear mobility exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of the scaling parameter $f$, which is a ratio of the work done to the particles to available thermal energy. Also, the effective diffusion exhibits a rapidly increasing behavior at higher $f$. The nature of reflection, i.e., elastic or inelastic, also influences the transport properties firmly. We find that inelastic reflections increase both the mobility and the effective diffusion for smaller $f$. In addition, by including the short range interaction force between the Brownian particles, the mobility decreases and the effective diffusion increases for various values of $f$. These findings, which are a signature of the entropic nature of the system, can be useful to understand the transport of small particles or molecules in systems such as microfluidic channels, membrane pores, and molecular sieves.

arXiv comment17 Pages, 7 Figures, Manuscript Accepted in 2019

References in corpus (21)

• Novel type of phase transition in a system of self-driven particles
• Artificial Brownian motors: Controlling transport on the nanoscale
• Kinetic Equations for Diffusion in the Presence of Entropic Barriers
• Entropic transport: Kinetics, scaling and control mechanisms
• Self-propelled Janus particles in a ratchet: Numerical simulations
• Spontaneously ordered motion of self-propelled particles
• Biased diffusion in confined media: Test of the Fick-Jacobs approximation and validity criteria
• Entropic Splitter for Particle Separation
• Entropy-driven pumping across zeolites and biological channels
• Hydrodynamic and entropic effects on colloidal diffusion in corrugated channels
• Current in a three-dimensional periodic tube with unbiased forces
• Entropic particle transport: higher order corrections to the Fick-Jacobs diffusion equation
• Giant Negative Mobility of Janus Particles in a Corrugated Channel
• Entropic stochastic resonance: the constructive role of the unevenness
• Rectification and diffusion of self-propelled particles in a two-dimensional corrugated channel
• Transport of overdamped Brownian particles in a two-dimensional tube: Nonadiabatic regime
• Diffusion of finite-size particles in channels with random walls
• Directed transport driven by the transverse wall vibration
• Separation quality of a geometric ratchet
• Transport of Brownian particles in a narrow, slowly-varying serpentine channel
• On the transport of interacting particles in a chain of cavities: Description through a modified Fick-Jacobs equation

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Inertial effects on rectification and diffusion of active Brownian particles in an asymmetric channel
• Diffusion of chiral active particles in a Poiseuille flow
• Confined diffusion in a random Lorentz gas environment
• Interacting Brownian particles exhibiting enhanced rectification in an asymmetric channel
• Diffusion of gravitactic chiral active Brownian particles in an asymmetric channel
• Mass separation in an asymmetric channel
• Mass-based separation of active Brownian particles in an asymmetric channel