TY - JOUR
T1 - The mechanism of the polymer-induced drag reduction in blood
AU - Pribush, Alexander
AU - Hatzkelzon, Lev
AU - Meyerstein, Dan
AU - Meyerstein, Naomi
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Prof. M.V. Kameneva and Dr. G. Barshtein for the critical remarks and constructive comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF ; no. 698/08 ).
PY - 2013/3/1
Y1 - 2013/3/1
N2 - Literature reports provide evidence that nanomolar concentrations of spaghetti-like, high molecular weight polymers decrease the hydrodynamic resistance of blood thereby improving impaired blood circulation. It has been suggested that the polymer-induced drag reduction is caused by the corralling of red blood cells (RBCs) among extended macromolecules aligned in the flow direction. This mechanism predicts that drag-reducing polymers must affect the conductivity of completely dispersed blood, time-dependent and steady state structural organization of aggregated RBCs at rest. However, experimental results obtained at the concentration of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO, MW=4×106) of 35ppm show that neither the conductivity of completely dispersed blood, nor the kinetics of RBC aggregation occurring after the stoppage of flow, nor the structural organization of aggregated RBCs in the quiescent blood are affected by PEO. As these results are at odds with the " corralling" hypothesis, it is assumed that the effect of these polymers on the drag is associated with their interactions with local irregularities of disturbed laminar blood flow.
AB - Literature reports provide evidence that nanomolar concentrations of spaghetti-like, high molecular weight polymers decrease the hydrodynamic resistance of blood thereby improving impaired blood circulation. It has been suggested that the polymer-induced drag reduction is caused by the corralling of red blood cells (RBCs) among extended macromolecules aligned in the flow direction. This mechanism predicts that drag-reducing polymers must affect the conductivity of completely dispersed blood, time-dependent and steady state structural organization of aggregated RBCs at rest. However, experimental results obtained at the concentration of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO, MW=4×106) of 35ppm show that neither the conductivity of completely dispersed blood, nor the kinetics of RBC aggregation occurring after the stoppage of flow, nor the structural organization of aggregated RBCs in the quiescent blood are affected by PEO. As these results are at odds with the " corralling" hypothesis, it is assumed that the effect of these polymers on the drag is associated with their interactions with local irregularities of disturbed laminar blood flow.
KW - Blood
KW - Drag reduction
KW - Erythrocyte
KW - Polymer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871151496&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2012.11.004
DO - 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2012.11.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 23261555
AN - SCOPUS:84871151496
SN - 0927-7765
VL - 103
SP - 354
EP - 359
JO - Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces
JF - Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces
ER -