Diffusion of spherical particles in microcavities

The diffusive motion of a colloidal particle trapped inside a small cavity filled with fluid is reduced by hydrodynamic interactions with the confining walls. In this work, we study these wall effects on a spherical particle entrapped in a closed cylinder. We calculate the diffusion coefficient along the radial, azimuthal, and axial direction for different particle positions. At all locations the diffusion is smaller than in a bulk fluid and it becomes anisotropic near the container's walls. We present a simple model which reasonably well describes the simulation results for the given dimensions of the cylinder, which are taken from the recent experimental work. © 2011 American Institute of Physics