ADSORPTION OF COLLOID PARTICLES AFFECTED BY HYDRODYNAMIC-FORCES

Irreversible adsorption of colloid particles interacting electrostatically from the well-defined flows was studied experimentally and theoretically. The impinging-jet cell was used to form the axis-symmetric laminar flow enabling a direct microscope determination of the particle adsorption kinetics. Determining the influence of flow intensity (shear rate) on the particle adsorption kinetics was possible due to monodisperse suspensions of polystyrene latex particles. The Brownian-Dynamics numerical simulation method was used for interpreting the experimental data. It was found that this theoretical method reflected well the characteristic features of the adsorption experiments, especially the ''hydrodynamics scattering'' effect. This effect leads to a considerable decrease of adsorption kinetics for higher flow shear rates and low ionic strength due to the coupling between the hydrodynamics and electrostatic double-layer forces. This phenomenon has significant implications for the adsorption processes occurring in biological systems.