Transport and Retention Behaviors of Deformable Polyacrylamide Microspheres in Convergent-Divergent Microchannels

Knowledge of the transport and retention behaviors of soft deformable particles on the microscale is essential for the design, evaluation, and application of engineered particle materials in the fields of energy, environment, and sustainability. Emulated convergent-divergent microchannels were constructed and used to investigate the transport and retention behaviors of soft deformable polyacrylamide microspheres at various conditions. Five different types of transport and retention patterns, i.e., surface deposition, smooth passing, direct interception, deforming remigration, and rigid blockage, are observed. Flow resistance variation characteristics caused by different patterns were quantitatively analyzed. Effects of flow rate, pore-throat size, particle size, and injection concentration on transport and retention patterns have been studied, and transport and retention pattern maps are presented and discussed.