Electroosmotic flow in microchannels with arbitrary geometry and arbitrary distribution of wall charge

Abstract

General solutions are developed for direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) electroosmotic flows in microfluidic channels with arbitrary cross-sectional geometry and arbitrary distribution of wall charge (zeta potential). The applied AC electric field can also be of arbitrary waveform. By proposing a nondimensional time scale ϖ defined as the ratio of the diffusion time of momentum across the electric double-layer thickness to the period of the applied electric field, we demonstrate analytically that the Helmholtz–Smoluchowski electroosmotic velocity is an appropriate slip condition for AC electroosmotic flows in typical microfluidic applications. With this slip condition approach, electroosmotic flows in rectangular and asymmetric trapezoidal microchannels with nonuniform wall charge, as examples, are investigated. The unknown constants in the proposed general solutions are numerically determined with a least-squares method through matching the boundary conditions. We find that the wall charge affects significantly the electroosmotic flow while the channel geometry does not. Moreover, the flow feature is characterized by another nondimensional time scale Ω defined as the ratio of the diffusion time of momentum across the channel hydraulic radius to the period of the applied electric field. The onset of phase shift between AC electroosmotic velocity and applied electric field is also examined analytically.