Restricted transport in small pores. A model for steric exclusion and hindered particle motion.

The basic hydrodynamic equations governing transport in submicron pores are reexamined. Conditions necessary for a simplified, one-dimensional treatment of the diffusion/convection process are established. Steric restrictions and Brownian motion are incorporated directly into the resulting model. Currently available fluid mechanical results are used to evaluate an upper limit on hindered diffusion; this limit is valid for small particle-to-pore ratios. Extensions of the analysis are shown to depend on numerical solutions of the related hydrodynamic problem, that of asymmetrical particle motion in a bounded fluid.