Inertial migration of cylindrical micelles formed by comb-like copolymer in Poiseuille flow

By combining the lattice Boltzmann model of fluid flow with the molecular dynamics model of copolymers, we investigate the inertial migration of cylindrical micelles, which is obtained by controlling the length ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments in a comb-like copolymer. Our results demonstrate that cylindrical micelles gradually deviate from the center of the nanochannel with increasing Reynolds number (Re). For the same Re, the larger the cylindrical micelle is, the closer it is to the center of the nanochannel. Importantly, we find that the change in the equilibrium position is particularly pronounced at Re less than 0.1, while the trend becomes smoother at Re greater than 0.1, which is because of the transition of micelles from cylindrical to disk-like shapes when Re is smaller than 0.1, and does not change as Re further increases. This work provides an understanding of cylindrical micelles' inertial migration, particularly in identifying the effect of morphological changes on the equilibrium position, which could lead to significant advancements in the inertial migration of polymer micelles.