Universal behavior of hydrogels confined to narrow capillaries.

ABSTRACT: Flow of soft matter objects through one-dimensional environments is important in industrial, biological and biomedical systems. Establishing the underlying principles of the behavior of soft matter in confinement can shed light on its performance in many man-made and biological systems. Here, we report an experimental and theoretical study of translocation of micrometer-size hydrogels (microgels) through microfluidic channels with a diameter smaller than an unperturbed microgel size. For microgels with different dimensions and mechanical properties, under a range of applied pressures, we established the universal principles of microgel entrance and passage through microchannels with different geometries, as well as the reduction in microgel volume in confinement. We also show a non-monoton

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4657056 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature