Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Diffusion01:12

Diffusion

223.3K
Diffusion is the passive movement of substances down their concentration gradients—requiring no expenditure of cellular energy. Substances, such as molecules or ions, diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in the cytosol or across membranes. Eventually, the concentration will even out, with the substance moving randomly but causing no net change in concentration. Such a state is called dynamic equilibrium, which is essential for maintaining overall...
223.3K
Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

6.8K
Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...
6.8K
Carrier Transport01:21

Carrier Transport

1.0K
The generation of electrical current in semiconductors is fundamentally driven by two mechanisms: drift and diffusion. These processes are essential for the functionality and performance of semiconductor-based devices.
Drift Current:
The drift of charge carriers is started by an external electric field (E). Charged particles, such as electrons and holes, experience an acceleration between collisions with lattice atoms. For electrons, this results in a drift velocity (vd) given by:
1.0K
Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics01:17

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

1.5K
Passive diffusion is a critical process that allows small lipophilic drugs to cross the cell membrane along a concentration gradient. This mechanism's efficiency depends on four primary factors: the membrane's surface area, the drug's lipid-water partition coefficient, the concentration gradient, and the membrane's thickness.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting...
1.5K
Protein Diffusion in the Membrane01:24

Protein Diffusion in the Membrane

6.0K
Proteins show rotational as well as lateral diffusion across the membrane. The lateral diffusion of proteins was confirmed through the cell fusion experiment where mouse and human cells were fused, resulting in hybrid cells. When the human and mouse cells fused, the specific membrane proteins on human and mouse cells were marked with the red and green-fluorescent markers, respectively. Initially, the red and green fluorescence was located on the respective hemisphere of the cell. As time...
6.0K
Diffusion on Chromatography Columns01:07

Diffusion on Chromatography Columns

1.4K
In column chromatography, when an analyte is introduced as a narrow band at the top of the column, the solutes begin to separate and broaden, developing a Gaussian profile. This broadening occurs due to various factors, such as longitudinal diffusion.
Longitudinal diffusion occurs when the solute molecules in the mobile phase diffuse from the more concentrated center of the chromatographic band to the more dilute regions on either side, both towards and against the flow direction. This...
1.4K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Dual-Zero-Scattering in Diffusive Transport.

Physical review letters·2026
Same author

Active phase separation triggered by chemotactic defects.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026
Same author

Lévy Diffusion Under Power-Law Stochastic Resetting.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same author

Training strategies for competing multiagent dynamical systems.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Visual quorum sensing in chiral suspensions: Hyperuniformity and edge currents.

PNAS nexus·2025
Same author

Rescaled Schwarz-Christoffel Transformations for Isotropic, Polygon, and Multiphysics Metamaterials.

Physical review letters·2025
Same journal

Correction: Yang et al. Microstructural Characteristics of High-Pressure Die Casting with High Strength-Ductility Synergy Properties: A Review. <i>Materials</i> 2023, <i>16</i>, 1954.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Effect of La and Ce Microalloying on the Corrosion Resistance of 0.4Sb Low-Alloy Steel in a Harsh Marine Atmospheric Environment.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

High-Temperature Properties of Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate Cement Modified with Gold Tailings.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

A Study on the Evolution of Intermetallic Phase Microstructure and High-Temperature Creep Behavior in Mg-8.0Al-1.0Nd-1.5Gd-Mn Alloys.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Material-Driven Clinical Complications in Mechanical Circulatory Support: From Blood-Material Interactions to Device-Related Adverse Events.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
Same journal

Influence of Final Irrigation on Calcium Silicate-Based Sealer Dentinal Tubular Penetration: A Systematic Review.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Planar Gradient Diffusion System to Investigate Chemotaxis in a 3D Collagen Matrix
09:26

Planar Gradient Diffusion System to Investigate Chemotaxis in a 3D Collagen Matrix

Published on: June 12, 2015

9.0K

Drift in Diffusion Gradients.

Fabio Marchesoni1

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Camerino, Camerino I-62032, Italy. fabio.marchesoni@pg.infn.it.

Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 17, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Brownian transport in heterogeneous media is described using a Langevin equation. This approach reveals a Maxwell demon-like effect, enabling directed motion without a temperature gradient.

Keywords:
Brownian transportdiffusionenergy harvesting

More Related Videos

Polydimethylsiloxane-polycarbonate Microfluidic Devices for Cell Migration Studies Under Perpendicular Chemical and Oxygen Gradients
11:23

Polydimethylsiloxane-polycarbonate Microfluidic Devices for Cell Migration Studies Under Perpendicular Chemical and Oxygen Gradients

Published on: February 23, 2017

14.7K
The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
08:01

The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow

Published on: May 1, 2018

9.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Planar Gradient Diffusion System to Investigate Chemotaxis in a 3D Collagen Matrix
09:26

Planar Gradient Diffusion System to Investigate Chemotaxis in a 3D Collagen Matrix

Published on: June 12, 2015

9.0K
Polydimethylsiloxane-polycarbonate Microfluidic Devices for Cell Migration Studies Under Perpendicular Chemical and Oxygen Gradients
11:23

Polydimethylsiloxane-polycarbonate Microfluidic Devices for Cell Migration Studies Under Perpendicular Chemical and Oxygen Gradients

Published on: February 23, 2017

14.7K
The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
08:01

The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow

Published on: May 1, 2018

9.1K

Area of Science:

  • Statistical Physics
  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Transport Phenomena

Background:

  • Brownian motion is fundamental to understanding particle movement in fluids.
  • Heterogeneous media present challenges for standard transport models.
  • Space-dependent diffusion complicates the analysis of particle dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a mesoscopic description for Brownian transport in quasi one-dimensional heterogeneous media.
  • To investigate the role of space-dependent self-diffusion coefficients.
  • To explore the potential for directed transport without temperature gradients.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing the Langevin equation formalism in the overdamped limit.
  • Introducing a mesoscopic drift term dependent on macroscopic observables (diffuser concentration and current).
  • Relating the drift term to microscopic medium properties.

Main Results:

  • A satisfactory mesoscopic description of Brownian transport was achieved.
  • A novel drift term, dependent on system observables, was incorporated.
  • The study identified a finite drift even at zero current.

Conclusions:

  • The developed model provides a robust description of Brownian transport in complex media.
  • The findings suggest the possibility of creating a Maxwell demon.
  • This demon could operate between equilibrium reservoirs at the same temperature, enabling directed motion.