Mesoscale simulation of phoretically osmotic boundary conditions

Area of Science:

• Fluid dynamics
• Mesoscale simulation
• Complex fluids

Background:

• Boundary walls can induce fluid flow through phoretic osmosis when subjected to gradient fields (chemical, thermal, electric).
• These effects are particularly significant at the microscale.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a mesoscale simulation strategy for phoretically osmotic boundaries.
• To enable efficient and tunable simulation of fluid transport driven by phoretic osmosis in microfluidic systems.

Main Methods:

• Coarse-graining microscopic fluid-wall interactions into bounce-back or specular reflection.
• Generating phoretic osmotic force by selectively reversing tangential velocity of fluid particles near the wall.
• Minimal modification of standard hydrodynamic boundary conditions.

Main Results:

• Successfully simulated diffusioosmotic and thermoosmotic boundaries.
• Demonstrated efficient and tunable phoretically osmotic flow generation.
• Investigated fluid transport in microfluidics and effects on active colloidal particles.

Conclusions:

• The proposed mesoscale scheme effectively simulates phoretically osmotic boundaries.
• Offers new possibilities for studying phoretic osmosis in active complex fluids and microfluidic systems.
• Provides a flexible and efficient simulation tool for gradient-driven flows.