Biomedical subjects

G Q Gu

Publications and source records attributed to G Q Gu.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Electrokinetic behavior of two touching inhomogeneous biological cells and colloidal particles: effects of multipolar interactions.

We present a theory to investigate electrokinetic behavior, namely, electrorotation and dielectrophoresis under alternating current (ac) applied fields for a pair of touching inhomogeneous colloidal particles and biological cells. These inhomogeneous particles are treated as graded ones with physically motivated model dielectric and conductivity profiles. The mutual polarization interaction between the particles yields a change in their respective dipole moments, and hence in the ac electrokinetic spectra. The multipolar interactions between polarized particles are accurately captured by the multiple images method. In the point-dipole limit, our theory reproduces the known results. We find that the multipolar interactions as well as the spatial fluctuations inside the particles can affect the ac electrokinetic spectra significantly.

Biophysics↗

PubMed2004

Nonlinear alternating current responses of graded materials.

When a composite of nonlinear particles suspended in a host medium is subjected to a sinusoidal electric field, the electrical response in the composite will generally consist of alternating current (ac) fields at frequencies of higher-order harmonics. The situation becomes more interesting when the suspended particles are graded, with a spatial variation in the dielectric properties. The local electric field inside the graded particles can be calculated by the differential effective dipole approximation, which agrees very well with a first-principles approach. In this work, a nonlinear differential effective dipole approximation and a perturbation expansion method have been employed to investigate the effect of gradation on the nonlinear ac responses of these composites. The results showed that the fundamental and third-harmonic ac responses are sensitive to the dielectric-constant and/or nonlinear-susceptibility gradation profiles within the particles. Thus, by measuring the ac responses of the graded composites, it is possible to perform a real-time monitoring of the fabrication process of the gradation profiles within the graded particles.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Electrorotation in graded colloidal suspensions.

Biological cells can be treated as composites of graded material inclusions. In addition to biomaterials, graded composites are important in more traditional materials science. In this paper, we investigate the electrorotation spectrum of a graded colloidal suspension in an attempt to discuss its dielectric properties. For that, we use the recently obtained differential effective dipole approximation and generalize it for nonspherical particles. We find that variations in the conductivity profile may make the characteristic frequency redshifted and have also an effect on the rotation peak. On the other hand, variations in the dielectric profile may enhance the rotation peak, but do not have any significant effect on the characteristic frequency. In the end, we apply our theory to fit experimental data obtained for yeast cells and find good agreement.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Electrorotation of a pair of spherical particles.

We present a theoretical study of electrorotation (ER) of two spherical particles under the action of a rotating electric field. When the two particles approach and finally touch, the mutual polarization interaction between the particles leads to a change in the dipole moment of the individual particle and hence the ER spectrum, as compared to that of the well-separated particles. The mutual polarization effects are captured by the method of multiple images. From the theoretical analysis, we find that the mutual polarization effects can change the characteristic frequency at which the maximum angular velocity of electrorotation occurs. The numerical results can be understood in the spectral representation theory.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Relaxation of surface charge on rotating dielectric spheres: Implications on dynamic electrorheological effects.

We have examined the effect of an oscillatory rotation of a polarized dielectric particle. The rotational motion leads to a redistribution of the polarization charge on the surface of the particle. We show that the time-averaged steady-state dipole moment is along the field direction, but its magnitude is reduced by a factor that depends on the angular velocity of rotation. As a result, the rotational motion of the particle reduces the electrorheological effect. We further assume that the relaxation of the polarized charge is arised from a finite conductivity of the particle or host medium. We calculate the relaxation time based on the Maxwell-Wagner theory, suitably generalized to include the rotational motion. Analytic expressions for the reduction factor and the relaxation time are given and their dependence on the angular velocity of rotation will be discussed.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Nonlinear ac response of an electrorheological fluid.

The applied electric field used in most electrorheological (ER) experiments is usually quite high, and nonlinear ER effects have been measured recently. When a nonlinear ER fluid is subjected to a sinusoidal (ac) field, the electrical response will in general consist of ac fields at frequencies of the higher-order harmonics. In this paper, a self-consistent formalism has been employed to compute the induced dipole moment for ER fluids in which the suspended particles have nonlinear characteristics, in an attempt to investigate the ac response of a nonlinear ER fluid.

Electricity↗