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Diffusiophoresis: a novel transport mechanism - fundamentals, applications, and future opportunities
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This paper is not primarily about microplastics. It reviews diffusiophoresis, a physical transport mechanism where particles move in response to chemical concentration gradients, covering both fundamental science and applications in water filtration, drug delivery, and biological systems. While the removal of microplastics is briefly mentioned as one potential application of active diffusiophoresis, the paper is a broad physics review rather than a study of microplastic pollution.
Diffusiophoresis involves the movement of colloidal-scale entities in response to concentration gradients of a solute. It is broadly categorized into two types: passive and active diffusiophoresis. In passive diffusiophoresis, external concentration gradients drive the motion, while in active diffusiophoresis, the colloidal entity itself assists in generating the gradients. In this perspective, we delve into the fundamental processes underlying passive and active diffusiophoresis and emphasize how prevalent both kinds of diffusiophoresis are in colloidal and natural systems. In particular, we highlight the colloidal focusing feature in passive diffusiophoresis and discuss how it underpins the variety of experimental observations and applications such as low-cost zetasizers, water filtration, and biological pattern formation. For active diffusiophoresis, we emphasize the dependence of particle trajectory on its shape and surface heterogeneity, and discuss how this dictates the applications such as drug delivery, removal of microplastics, and self-repairing materials. Finally, we offer insights and ideas regarding future opportunities in diffusiophoresis.
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This study is not primarily about microplastics; it investigates how chemical gradients (diffusiophoresis) change how colloidal particles move through porous media in general. Microplastic remediation is mentioned as one potential application area, but the work is fundamentally a fluid physics study.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.