(9b) Effect of Material Morphology On Electrokinetic-Based Bioseparations: Comparison Between Computational and Analytical Results

Research involving polymer gels with embedded nanoparticles of varying properties is quite attractive because of the multitude of potential applications, including separation of biomacromolecules, tissue scaffold growth, as well as the analysis of the efficiency and control of drug delivery. The presence of nanoparticles within gels has the potential to modify not only the gel morphology but also the electrokinetic properties of the gels; therefore, these nanoparticles may influence both the electrophoretic transport as well as electro-osmotic flows.

This project focuses on idealized capillary models whose characteristics are useful domains to mimic the gel morphology in the aforementioned nanocomposite gels. Such domains allow for the use of a nonuniform cross section and electrostatic potential along the capillary walls in order to capture the electrophoretic and electrostatic behaviors between the nanoparticles and the gel. Analyses of the effects of various system parameters such as the channel cross sections, electrostatic potential, and aspect ratio, among others are important aspects to be studied either analytically or computationally as shown by previous efforts. In this presentation we will compare computational results obtained from the analysis of electrophoresis in a diverging channel to those obtained analytically based on the use of electrokinetic hydrodynamics (EKHD) concepts coupled with the spatial averaging approach originally introduced by Slattery, Whitaker, and others.