Dilute dispersion of compound particles: deformation dynamics and rheology

Compound particles are a class of composite systems in which solid particles encapsulated in a fluid droplet are suspended in another fluid. They are encountered in various natural and biological processes, for e.g. nucleated cells, hydrogels, microcapsules etc. Generation and transportation of such multiphase structures in microfluidic devices is associated with several challenges because of the poor understanding of their structural stability in a background flow and the rheological characteristics of their dispersions. Hence, in this work, we analyse the flow in and around a concentric compound particle and investigate the deformation dynamics of the confining drop and its stability against breakup in imposed linear flows. In the inertia-less limit (Reynolds number, Re << 1) and assuming that the surface tension force dominates the viscous forces (low capillary number, Ca, limit), we obtain analytical expressions for the velocity and pressure fields up to O(Ca) for a compound particle subjected to a linear flow using a domain perturbation technique. Simultaneously, we determine the deformed shape of the confining drop correct up to O(Ca-2), facilitating the following. (i) Since O(Ca-2) calculations account for the rotation of the anisotropically deformed interface, the reorientation dynamics of the deformed compound particles is determined. (ii) Calculations involving the O(Ca-2) shape of the confining interface are found to be important for compound particles as O(Ca) calculations make qualitatively different predictions in generalised extensional flows. (iii) An O(Ca) constitutive equation for the volume-averaged stress for a dilute dispersion of compound particles was developed to study both shear and extensional rheology in a unified framework. Our analysis shows that the presence of an encapsulated particle always enhances all the measured rheological quantities such as the effective shear viscosity, extensional viscosity and normal stress differences. (iv) Moreover, linear viscoelastic behaviour of a dilute dispersion of compound particles is characterised in terms of complex modulus by subjecting the dilute dispersion to a small-amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) flow. (v) Various expressions pertaining to a suspension of particles, drops, and particles coated with a fluid film are also derived as limiting cases of compound particles.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the flow characteristics and deformation dynamics of compound particles in microfluidic devices, revealing that under conditions of low Reynolds number and low Capillary number, the velocity and pressure fields are analyzed for compound particles in linear flow, along with the deformed shape of the confining drop.