We quantitatively study the transport of E. coli near the walls of confined microfluidic channels, and in more detail along the edges formed by the interception of two perpendicular walls. Our experiments establish the connection between bacteria motion at the flat surface and at the edges and demonstrate the robustness of the upstream motion at the edges. Upstream migration of E. coli at the edges is possible at much larger flow rates compared to motion at the flat surfaces. Interestingly, the bacteria speed at the edges mainly results from collisions between bacteria moving along this single line. We show that upstream motion not only takes place at the edge but also in an "edge boundary layer" whose size varies with the applied flow rate. We quantify the bacteria fluxes along the bottom walls and the edges and show that they result from both the transport velocity of bacteria and the decrease of surface concentration with increasing flow rate due to erosion processes. We rationalize our findings as a function of the local variations of the shear rate in the rectangular channels and hydrodynamic attractive forces between bacteria and walls.

No abstract

In the present work, the effect of acid treatments on the structure of a natural and sodium exchanged clinoptilolite was evaluated using experimental and theoretical methods. The results demonstrated the good stability of the samples submitted to HCl treatments, although it was proven that aluminum was extracted from the framework. It was verified that the sodium clinoptilolite (AZ) is more resistant than its natural form (NZ) to the acid treatment since the aluminum extraction is smaller and the percent of estimated crystallinity is higher in AZ. An increase in the micropore volume, as well as the creation of new narrow micropores, was also verified. The simulation results indicated that the aluminum at T2 position is the easiest to remove during the dealumination process, and it was also noted that, during dealumination, different slabs are formed in the structure, creating a framework like a clay. Calculations suggested that the stability of the dealuminated frameworks was related to attractive and repulsive interactions, which take place between the species involved in the dealumination process. Our work demonstrates that sodium modification is an essential step to obtain a structurally stable acidic natural clinoptilolite.