Mesoscale modeling of colloidal suspensions with adsorbing solutes

TL;DR

This paper develops a mesoscale model for colloidal suspensions with reversible solute adsorption, coupling particle dynamics, fluid flow, and solute transport, enabling simulation of adsorption effects under flow and concentration gradients.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel mesoscale model that integrates colloid dynamics, fluid flow, and solute adsorption via a square-well potential, suitable for direct numerical simulation.

Findings

Model successfully simulates solute adsorption in flowing suspensions

Numerical validation confirms model accuracy

Enables study of adsorption effects in complex flow conditions

Abstract

We construct a mesoscale model of colloidal suspensions that contain solutes reversibly adsorbing onto the colloidal particle surfaces. The present model describes the coupled dynamics of the colloidal particles, the host fluid, and the solutes through the Newton-Euler equations of motion, the hydrodynamic equations, and the advection-diffusion equation, respectively. The solute adsorption is modeled through a square-well potential, which represents a short-range attractive interaction between a particle and a solute molecule. The present model is formulated to be solved through direct numerical simulations. Some numerical results are presented to validate the simulations. The present model enables investigations of solute adsorption effects in the presence of a fluid flow and an inhomogeneous solute concentration distribution.