Focusing of Brownian Particles in a Fluid Induced by the Temperature Difference

Abstract

Abstract In this work the Brownian motion of particles in a two-dimensional channel was numerically studied through a fluctuating-lattice Boltzmann method. The effects of the fluid temperature difference on the biased Brownian motion of particles were examined. It is shown that the particles are likely to move towards and stay at the low temperature zone. More importantly, the focusing of Brownian particles may be realized if the temperature difference is large enough. This paper also provides a quantitative analysis on this issue.