Ryo Nagura

Coarse-grained picture of Brownian motion in water: Role of size and interaction distance range on the nature of randomness

The Brownian motion of a particle in a fluid is often described by the linear Langevin equation, in which it is assumed that the mass of the particle is sufficiently large compared to the surrounding fluid molecules. This assumption leads to a diffusion coefficient that is independent of the particle mass. The Stokes-Einstein equation indicates that the diffusion coefficient depends solely on the particle size, but the concept of size can be ambiguous when close to the molecular scale. We first examine the Brownian motion of simple model particles based on short-range interactions in water by the molecular dynamics method and show that the diffusion coefficient can vary with mass when this mass is comparable to that of the solvent molecules, and that this effect is evident when the solute particle size is sufficiently small. We then examine the properties of a water molecule considered as a solute in the bulk solvent consisting of the remainder of the water. A comparison with simple solute models is used to clarify the role of force fields. The long-range Coulomb interaction between water molecules is found to lead to a Gaussian force distribution in spite of a mass ratio and nominal size ratio of unity, such that solutes with short-range interactions exhibit non-Gaussian force distribution. Thus, the range of the interaction distance determines the effective size even if it does not represent the volume excluded by the repulsive force field.

Numerical study on dynamical behavior of nanoparticles in optical vortex

When nanoparticles are exposed to an optical field with orbital angular momentum, that is optical vortex, such particles are swirled around optical axis. Although such a phenomenon was observed experimentally, theoretical and numerical approaches have not been developed enough. In this study, we propose a numerical model for dynamical motions of a single nanoparticle. Based on Rayleigh scattering regime, the gradient force which dominantly acts on a nanoparticle is computed. The gradient force is usually derived from time averaged electric field and then, a tangential component is vanished. Herein, we carefully treat the tangential term by using time dependent electromagnetic fields. Consequently, it is found that a tangential component in the gradient force induce swirling motions of a nanoparticle.

Generation and Control of Electrohydrodynamic Flows in Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions

To drive electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flows in aqueous solutions, the separation of cation and anion transport pathways is essential because a directed electric body force has to be induced by ionic motions in liquid. On the other hand, positive and negative charges attract each other, and electroneutrality is maintained everywhere in equilibrium conditions. Furthermore, an increase in an applied voltage has to be suppressed to avoid water electrolysis, which causes the solutions to become unstable. Usually, EHD flows can be induced in non-aqueous solutions by applying extremely high voltages, such as tens of kV, to inject electrical charges. In this study, two methods are introduced to generate EHD flows induced by electrical charge separations in aqueous solutions, where two liquid phases are separated by an ion-exchange membrane. Due to a difference in the ionic mobility in the membrane, ion concentration polarization is induced between both sides of the membrane. In this study, we demonstrate two methods. (i) The relaxation of ion concentration gradients occurs via a flow channel that penetrates an ion-exchange membrane, where the transport of the slower species in the membrane selectively becomes dominant in the flow channel. This is a driving force to generate an EHD flow in the liquid. (ii) A long waiting time for the diffusion of ions passing through the ion-exchange membrane enables the generation of an ion-dragged flow by externally applying an electric field. Ions concentrated in a flow channel of a 1 x 1 mm2 cross-section determine the direction of the liquid flow, corresponding to the electrophoretic transport pathways. In both methods, the electric voltage difference required for an EHD flow generation is drastically reduced to near 2 V by rectifying the ion transport pathways.