Hydrodynamic benefits of artificial cilia distribution towards photodegradation processes

Abstract

Nature has devised unique ciliary arrangements among organisms towards efficient flow manipulation around their respective environments. The hydrodynamic impact of various ciliary arrangements is yet to be fully understood. In this aspect, this study was designed to elucidate the hydrodynamic benefits of ciliary arrangements towards the photodegradation process. In particular, the hydrodynamics impact of artificial cilia distributed uniformly line by line arrangement and in a circular ring arrangement were studied within the microfluidic environment with a specific aim to achieve efficient photocatalytic applications. It was observed that when the artificial cilia were arranged in circles, the average photodegradation capability of device was accounted as high as 72 % at the end of a 25-minute cycle which is 20 % improvement compared to the traditional line by line arrangement. The comprehensively hydrodynamic analysis further suggested that artificial cilia arranged in a circular ring form can generate the collaboratively secondary flow rotation as quantified in vorticity magnitude which is absent in its counterpart design. These secondary flows enhanced mixing in the microfluidic network which significantly improved the photodegradation efficacy. This acquired knowledge can be further implemented towards designing an efficient microreactor for identifying next-generation photocatalytic materials.