Reduced viscosity for flagella moving in a solution of long polymer chains

Yuchen Zhang, Gaojin Li, and Arezoo M. Ardekani
Phys. Rev. Fluids 3, 023101 – Published 16 February 2018

Abstract

The bacterial flagellum thickness is smaller than the radius of gyration of long polymer chain molecules. The flow velocity gradient over the length of polymer chains can be nonuniform and continuum models of polymeric liquids break in this limit. In this work, we use Brownian dynamics simulations to study a rotating helical flagellum in a polymer solution and overcome this limitation. As the polymer size increases, the viscosity experienced by the flagellum asymptotically reduces to the solvent viscosity. The contribution of polymer molecules to the local viscosity in a solution of long polymer chains decreases with the inverse of polymer size to the power 1/2. The difference in viscosity experienced by the bacterial cell body and flagella can predict the nonmonotonic swimming speed of bacteria in polymer solutions.

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  • Received 9 September 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.3.023101

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterFluid DynamicsPhysics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Yuchen Zhang, Gaojin Li, and Arezoo M. Ardekani

  • School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, USA

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Issue

Vol. 3, Iss. 2 — February 2018

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