Flow coupling between active and passive fluids across water-oil interfaces.

ABSTRACT: Active fluid droplets surrounded by oil can spontaneously develop circulatory flows. However, the dynamics of the surrounding oil and their influence on the active fluid remain poorly understood. To investigate interactions between the active fluid and the passive oil across their interface, kinesin-driven microtubule-based active fluid droplets were immersed in oil and compressed into a cylinder-like shape. The droplet geometry supported intradroplet circulatory flows, but the circulation was suppressed when the thickness of the oil layer surrounding the droplet decreased. Experiments with tracers and network structure analyses and continuum models based on the dynamics of self-elongating rods demonstrated that the flow transition resulted from flow coupling across the interface between a

SUBMITTER: Chen YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8263611 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature