Translational and rotational dynamics of a self-propelled Janus probe in crowded environments

Theeyancheri, Ligesh; Chaki, Subhasish; Samanta, Nairhita; Goswami, Rohit; Chelakkot, Raghunath; Chakrabarti, Ramananda

doi:10.1039/d0sm00339e

Cited by 36 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Besides this, the C v (τ) falls off sharply for lower stickiness and exhibits a negative correlation at higher stickiness (ε = 2.5) due to the trapping of the tracer particle by the grafted polymers (Fig. S7(b)) 22,39,54 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…For example, experimental investigation of self-propelled Janus particles in viscoelastic fluid demonstrated that the rotational diffusion of the particle gets enhanced with the self-propulsion velocity 38 . Computer simulations have shown that the rotational diffusivity of a self-propelled Janus particle in the crowded environment exhibits a nonmonotonous behavior while translational diffusivity decreases monotonically with the area fraction of the crowders 39,40 . On the other hand, enhancement in translational motion of the cell and a sharp decline in rotational diffusion are observed in an experimental study of E. coli in polymeric solutions 41 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity

Sahoo,

Theeyancheri,

Chakrabarti

2022

Preprint

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Active transport of biomolecules assisted by motor proteins is imperative for the proper functioning of cellular activities. Inspired by the diffusion of active agents in crowded cellular channels, we computationally investigate the transport of an active tracer through a polymer grafted cylindrical channel by varying the activity of the tracer and stickiness of the tracer to the polymers. Our results reveal that the passive tracer exhibits profound subdiffusion with increasing stickiness by exploring deep into the grafted polymeric zone, while purely repulsive one prefers to diffuse through the pore-like space created along the cylindrical axis of the channel. In contrast, the active tracer shows faster dynamics and intermediate superdiffusion even though the tracer preferentially stays close to the dense polymeric region. This observation is further supported by the sharp peaks in the density profile of the probability of radial displacement of the tracer. We discover that the activity plays an important role in deciding the pathway that the tracer takes through the narrow channel. Interestingly, increasing the activity washes out the effect of stickiness. Adding to this, van-Hove functions manifest that the active tracer dynamics deviates from Gaussianity, and the degree of deviation grows with the activity. Our work has direct implications on how effective transportation and delivery of cargo can be achieved through a confined medium where activity, interactions, and crowding are interplaying. Looking ahead, these factors will be crucial for understanding the mechanism of artificial self-powered machines navigating through the cellular channels and performing in vivo challenging tasks.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity

Sahoo,

Theeyancheri,

Chakrabarti

2022

Preprint

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“…S7(b), ESI †). 22,39,54 Fig. 4 (a) Log-log plot of hdz 2 (t)i vs. t and (b) log-linear a z (t) of the tracer particle in the polymer grafted cylindrical channel at different Pe for e = 1.5.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…38 Computer simulations have shown that the rotational diffusivity of a self-propelled Janus particle in the crowded environment exhibits a nonmonotonous behavior while translational diffusivity decreases monotonically with the area fraction of the crowders. 39,40 On the other hand, enhancement in translational motion of the cell and a sharp decline in rotational diffusion are observed in an experimental study of E. coli in polymeric solutions. 41 The dynamical behavior is significantly affected by the activity, degree of confinement, steric hindrance, interactions with the medium, and architecture of the surrounding environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity

2022

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“…In the recent past, a number of experimental and theoretical studies have been carried out to investigate the dynamics of the self-propelled species in crowded and complex environments [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] . Recent experimental and theoretical studies reported enhanced rotation of a self-propelled Janus particle in polymer solution 6,22 . Most of the previous attempts focus on the effect of crowding on dynamics by changing the nature and density of the crowders [18][19][20]26,27 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemically symmetric and asymmetric self-driven rigid dumbbells in 2D polymer gel

Kumar,

Theeyancheri,

Chakrabarti

2021

Preprint

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We employ computer simulations to unveil the translational and rotational dynamics of the self-driven chemically symmetric and asymmetric rigid dumbbells in two-dimensional polymer gel. Our results show that activity or the selfpropulsion always enhances the dynamics of the dumbbells. Making the self-propelled dumbbell chemically asymmetric leads to further enhancement in dynamics. Additionally, the direction of self-propulsion is a key factor for the chemically asymmetric dumbbells, where self-propulsion towards the non-sticky half of the dumbbell results in faster translational and rotational dynamics compare to the case with the self-propulsion towards the sticky half of the dumbbell. Our analyses show that both the symmetric and asymmetric passive rigid dumbbells get trapped inside the mesh of the polymer gel, but the chemical asymmetry always facilitates mesh to mesh motion of the dumbbell and it is even more pronounced when the dumbbell is self-propelled. This results multiple peaks in the van Hove function with increasing self-propulsion. In a nutshell, we believe that our in silico study can guide the researchers design efficient artificial microswimmers possessing potential applications in site-specific delivery.

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Translational and rotational dynamics of a self-propelled Janus probe in crowded environments

Abstract: We computationally investigate the dynamics of a self-propelled Janus probe in crowded environments. The crowding is caused by the presence of viscoelastic polymers or non- viscoelastic disconnected monomers. Our simulations...

Cited by 36 publications

References 69 publications

Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity

Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity

Transport of a self-propelled tracer through a hairy cylindrical channel: interplay of stickiness and activity

Chemically symmetric and asymmetric self-driven rigid dumbbells in 2D polymer gel

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