Experimental study on thermophoresis of colloids in aqueous surfactant solutions

Thermophoresis refers to the motion of particles under a temperature gradient and it is one of the particle manipulation techniques. Regarding the thermophoresis of particles in liquid media, however, many open questions still remain, especially the role of the interfacial effect. This work reports on a systematic experimental investigation of surfactant effects, especially the induced interfacial effect, on the thermophoresis of colloids in aqueous solutions via a microfluidic approach. Two kinds of commonly used surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), are selected and the results show that from relatively large concentrations, the two surfactants can greatly enhance the thermophilic mobilities. Specifically, it is found that the colloid-water interfaces modified with more polar end groups can potentially lead to a stronger thermophilic tendency. Due to the complex effects of surfactants, further theoretical model development is needed to quantitatively describe the dependence of thermophoresis on the interface characteristics.