Tunable transport in bi-disperse porous materials with vascular structure
arxiv(2024)
摘要
We study transport in synthetic, bi-disperse porous structures, with arrays
of microchannels interconnected by a nanoporous layer. These structures are
inspired by the xylem tissue in vascular plants, in which sap water travels
from the roots to the leaves to maintain hydration and carry micronutrients. We
experimentally evaluate transport in three conditions: high pressure-driven
flow, spontaneous imbibition, and transpiration-driven flow. The latter case
resembles the situation in a living plant, where bulk liquid water is
transported upwards in a metastable state (negative pressure), driven by
evaporation in the leaves; here we report stable, transpiration-driven flows
down to ∼ -15 MPa of driving force. By varying the shape of the
microchannels, we show that we can tune the rate of these transport processes
in a predictable manner, using a simple analytical (effective medium) approach
and numerical simulations of the flow field in the bi-disperse media. We also
show that the spontaneous imbibition behavior of a single structure - with
fixed geometry - can behave very differently depending on its preparation
(filled with air, vs. evacuated), because of a dramatic change in the
conductance of vapor in the microchannels; this change offers a second way to
tune the rate of transport in bi-disperse, xylem-like structures, by switching
between air-filled and evacuated states.
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