Electroosmotic flow of viscoelastic fluid through a microchannel with slip-dependent zeta potential

Abstract

We investigate flow characteristics for an electroosmotic flow of viscoelastic fluids through a hydrophobic plane microchannel, considering the coupled effect of interfacial slip and zeta potential. We employ a simplified Phan–Thien–Tanner model to describe the constitutive behavior of the fluid. The governing equations are solved analytically to obtain electric double layer (EDL) potential distribution, flow velocity, flow rate, stresses, and viscosity. We have compared the obtained analytical flow field with the established theoretical and experimental works at the limiting cases. We demonstrate that ignoring the effect of the interfacial slip on zeta potential will lead to underprediction of the flow rate, and this underprediction is amplified with the increase in the Deborah number, decrease in the EDL thickness, and increase in the slip coefficient. Moreover, the relative flow rate augmentation by the rheological behavior strictly depends on the range of slip coefficients with the change in the EDL thickness. Accordingly, we have identified three regions of the slip coefficient. In addition, the viscosity near the wall decreases with the slip coefficient for the slip dependent zeta potential model. In contrast, the normal and shear stresses are augmented with the slip coefficient. Outcomes of the present investigation may help one to understand the enhanced flow behavior for the transport of complex fluids through a hydrophobic microchannel.