ELECTROKINETICS OF A CHARGED RIGID PARTICLE IN

CHARGED/UNCHARGED HYDROGEL
Simanta De*, Somnath Bhattacharyya
Department of Mathematics
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Kharagpur 721302, India

ABSTRACT
Based on a nonlinear model the electrophoresis of a charged colloidal sphere under an imposed
electric field through a charged or uncharged hydrogel is studied. Theory of electrophoresis in
gel is complicated owing to the long range hydrodynamic interaction and the steric effect due
to the friction between the gel skeleton and migrating particle. Many hydrogels are charged or
can become charged. The hydrodynamics in gel medium is modeled through an effective
medium approach, in which the gel is considered as continuum and hydrodynamics is governed
by the Brinkman equations. These equations are coupled with equations for ion transport in gel
medium, which is governed by the Nernst-Planck equations and a Poisson equation for local
electric field. Due to the coupled nature of equations for ion transport and fluid flow, the impact
of the electroosmotic flow (EOF) and the induced field due to double layer polarization (DLP)
on the dynamics of the particle is correctly estimated. The EOF due to unbalanced charges
causes an extra retardation on the hydrodynamics of the particle. All the previous studies are
based on a small perturbation from the equilibrium Boltzmann distribution of ions, which does
not incorporate the impact of imposed electric field and convection effects. We have estimated
the mobility through the balance of electrostatic force and drag experienced by the particle.
Our computed solution for mobility compares well with the experimental result. However, the
analytical solution based on linear model found to overestimate our computed results for higher
range of zeta-potential. A correct measure of the frictional drag and electric force experienced
by the particle in electrophoresis is made. The role of electroosmosis on hydrodynamics of the
particle is analyzed by comparing the drag with the corresponding hydrodynamic case. Our
results suggest that the retardation effects due to double layer polarization and electroosmotic
flow are strong for moderate values of the Debye-Huckel parameter and it grows as the zetapotential and/or permeability of the hydrogel is increased. We have considered the effects of
gel concentration and fixed charge density on the electrophoresis. When the gel permeability
becomes high the EOF induced by the double layer of the particle gets strong. This EOF creates
an extra hydrodynamic drag on the particle.

Email ID: simanta.de@gmail.com (Simanta De), somnath@maths.iitkgp.ernet.in (Somnath Bhattacharyya)