Diffusiophoresis in porous media saturated with a mixture of electrolytes

TL;DR

This paper develops a mathematical model to predict diffusiophoresis of colloids in porous media with mixed electrolytes, revealing how permeability, electrolyte valence, and composition influence motion.

Contribution

It introduces a novel model for diffusiophoresis in porous media with mixed electrolytes, extending beyond valence symmetric cases.

Findings

Lowering permeability weakens diffusiophoretic motion.

Valence asymmetric electrolytes can enhance motion in denser media.

Electrolyte composition drastically alters both magnitude and direction of motion.

Abstract

Current theories of diffusiophoresis in porous media are limited to a porous medium saturated with a valence symmetric electrolyte. A predictive model for diffusiophoresis in porous media saturated with a valence asymmetric electrolyte, or a general mixture of valence symmetric and asymmetric electrolytes, is lacking. To close this knowledge gap, in this work we develop a mathematical model, based upon the regular perturbation method and numerical integration, to compute the diffusiophoretic mobility of a colloid in porous media saturated with a general mixture of electrolytes. We model the electrokinetics using the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations and the fluid transport in porous media using the Brinkman equation with an electric body force. We report three novel key findings. First, we demonstrate that, in the same electrolyte concentration gradient, lowering the permeability of the porous medium can significantly weaken the colloid diffusiophoretic motion. Second, we show that, surprisingly, by using a valence asymmetric electrolyte the colloid diffusiophoretic motion in a denser porous medium can be stronger than that in a less dense porous medium saturated with a symmetric electrolyte. Third, we demonstrate that varying the composition of an electrolyte mixture does not only change the strength of the colloid diffusiophoretic motion drastically, but also qualitatively its direction. The model developed from this work can be used to understand and predict natural phenomena such as intracellular transport, as well as design technological applications such as enhanced oil recovery, nanoparticle drug delivery, and colloidal species separation.