Effects of Biased AC Electroosmotic Micro-Pumping on Symmetric and Asymmetric Electrode Arrays

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis and experiment results that were conducted to assess the effect of combining an AC signal with a DC bias when generating the electric field on electrode arrays needed to impart electroosmosis within a microchannel. The analysis was done using COMSOL 3.5a in which currently available theoretical models for EO flows were embedded in the software and solved numerically. The simulation evaluate the effects of channel geometry, frequency of excitation, electrode array geometry, and AC signal with a DC bias on the flow imparted on an electrically conducting fluid. For the AC driven flow, the simulation results indicate the existence of an optimized frequency of excitation and an optimum geometry that lead to the maximum net forward flow of the pump. No relevant net flows were generated with the symmetric electrode arrays with a constant magnitude of AC voltage applied to both electrodes. However, superimposing a DC signal over the AC signal on the same symmetric electrode array lead to a noticeable net forward flow of 18.70 μL/min. On the other hand asymmetric electrode pattern can generate flow in both cases and can improve the microflow inside the micro-channel. Experimental flow measurements were performed on several electrode array configurations manufactured using typical MEMS fabrication techniques. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation data. They confirm that using an asymmetric electrode array excited by an AC signal with a DC bias leads to a significant improvement in flow rates in comparison to the flow rates obtained in an asymmetric electrode array configuration excited just with an AC signal.