Colloidal particle deposition from electrokinetic flow in a microfluidic channel

This study reports a theoretical and experimental study on the irreversible deposition of colloidal particles from electrokinetic microfluidic flow. The electrokinetic particle transport model presented in this study is based on the stochastic Langevin equation, incorporating the electrical, hydrodynamic, Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek colloidal interactions and random Brownian motion of colloidal particles. Brownian dynamics simulation is used to compute the particle deposition in terms of the surface coverage. Direct videomicroscopic observation using the parallel-plate flow cell technique is employed to determine the deposition kinetics of polystyrene latex particles in NaCl electrolytes. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental results, and a reasonable agreement is found.