Effect of interface wettability on the flow characteristics of liquid in smooth microchannels

Abstract

Rapid advances in microfluidic devices have induced interest in the study of the microscale flow mechanism. However, the experimental results of microscale flow often deviate from the classical theory, and we attribute this deviation to the changing liquid viscosity in the microchannels. Because of the effect of the solid–liquid intermolecular force, the viscosity of the liquid near the walls is different from the bulk viscosity. Based on molecular theory and wetting theory, we propose a modified apparent viscosity model. The apparent viscosity of the liquid in microchannels increases with the increase in wettability and decreases with the increase in distance from the wall and the increase in drive pressure. The apparent viscosity near the hydrophilic wall is higher than the bulk viscosity, which increases the flow friction in the microchannels. To validate this model, we experimentally investigate the frictional characteristic of a deionized water flow in smooth parallel-plate microchannels with different wettabilities and heights of approximately 20 and 50 $$\upmu \hbox {m}$$ . The results indicate that the friction factor is higher than that predicted by the classical theory. Such a difference increases with increasing wettability and decreases with increasing hydraulic diameter and pressure drop, which is consistent with the results of theoretical analysis. The apparent viscosity calculated by the apparent viscosity model notably fit the experimental results, with a relative difference of less than ± 2.1%.