UNS:Collaborative Research: Transport and Chemotaxis of Swimming Cells in Porous Media Flows

CBET 1510768 /1511340 PI：Dunkel，Joern / Guasto，Jeffrey该项目的目标是确定多孔介质中游泳细胞的运输和趋化性的物理机制。 许多种类的细胞都能在液体中产生自己的推进力。在它们的自然栖息地和工程系统中，游泳细胞必须在复杂的微观结构中航行，以响应来自食物来源和其他生物体的各种化学信号。研究人员将使用理论，数值模拟和实验的结合来研究流体流动，边界结构和化学刺激对单个细胞和细胞集合运动的相对重要性。结果将适用于生态过程和各种技术，包括生物反应器，生物修复和清洁水的保护。 将招募当地高中学生参加该项目。游泳细胞和合成自推进粒子构成了一类新兴的主动悬浮体，其传输特性与被动标量和粒子流的传输特性有很大不同。 悬浮液的微观结构和流动对多孔介质中细胞运输的影响将被调查的各种细胞，跨越典型的游泳风格和身体形状的稀和浓悬浮液。 微流体装置将被设计成创建良好控制的环境，模拟多孔介质中的自然流动条件和化学梯度。 高速视频显微镜的微生物悬浮液将提供一个大的细胞系综的统计特性，以及一个机械细胞尺度的鞭毛和流体动力学的相互作用介导的大规模行为的看法。多孔介质的结构上的化学趋化细胞在化学梯度的传输系数的影响也将被检查。连续体和基于粒子的模型将实施数字和结果将系统地验证实验，以建立一个定量的，预测性的框架，在多孔介质流中的主动细胞运输。

CBET 1510768 / 1511340PIs: Dunkel, Joern / Guasto, JeffreyThe goal of this project is to determine the physical mechanisms that govern transport and chemotaxis of swimming cells in porous media. Many kinds of cells are capable of generating their own propulsion in liquids. In their natural habitats and in engineered systems, swimming cells have to navigate through complex microstructures in response to various chemical signals from food sources and other organisms. The investigators will use a combination of theory, numerical simulation, and experiments to examine the relative importance of fluid flows, boundary structures and chemical stimuli on the locomotion of individual cells and collections of cells. The results will be applicable to ecological processes and diverse technologies, including bioreactors, bioremediation, and preservation of clean water. Local high-school students will be recruited to participate in the project.Swimming cells and synthetic self-propelled particles comprise an emerging class of active suspensions, whose transport properties can differ significantly from those of passive scalars and particulate flows. The effects of suspension microstructure and flow on cell transport in porous media will be investigated for dilute and dense suspensions of various cells that span canonical swimming styles and body shapes. Microfluidic devices will be designed to create well-controlled environments that simulate natural flow conditions and chemical gradients in a porous medium. High-speed video microscopy of microbial suspensions will provide a statistical characterization of large cell ensembles as well as a mechanistic cell-scale view of the flagellar and hydrodynamic interactions mediating large-scale behaviors. The effects of porous media structure on the transport coefficients of chemotaxing cells in chemical gradients will also be examined. Continuum and particle-based models will be implemented numerically and results will be systematically validated against experiments to establish a quantitative, predictive framework for active cell transport in porous media flows.