Microconfined electroosmotic flow of a complex fluid with asymmetric charges: Interplay of fluid rheology and physicochemical heterogeneity

Abstract

Abstract We report a study on the micro-confined electroosmotic flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid over a surface having asymmetric charge modulation. We have employed a combination of regular and matched asymptotic expansion to obtain the analytical solution. We have also carried out a full numerical simulation of the physicochemical problem in order to assess the full parameter space of the problem. The analytical solution is shown to be in excellent agreement with the full numerical solution in the limiting conditions of thin electrical double layers and weakly viscoelastic fluids. We have used these solutions to describe the complex fluid flow pattern and the modified electroosmotic slip velocity. We have also highlighted the alteration in the net volumetric throughput and ionic current. We have subsequently presented the numerical solutions for the velocity field, flow rates, and streaming current by varying the physicochemical conditions at the surface and viscoelastic properties of the fluid. We report an augmentation in the electroosmotic slip velocity with the increase in relative strength. The symmetry breaking of flow and stress distributions are shown to affect the net-throughput and streaming current, which is indicative of the combined effect of phase angle, magnitude of charge distribution, and the fluid viscoelasticity. We have shown that the thickness of electrical double layer considerably affects the net-throughput and streaming current generation in the microchannel. Our results hold the key towards understanding the complex bio-fluid transport in a microchannel utilizing the electric field in the presence of non-uniform surface charge distribution.