Pulsatile electroosmotic flow of a Maxwell fluid in a parallel flat plate microchannel with asymmetric zeta potentials

Abstract

The pulsatile electroosmotic flow (PEOF) of a Maxwell fluid in a parallel flat plate microchannel with asymmetric wall zeta potentials is theoretically analyzed. By combining the linear Maxwell viscoelastic model, the Cauchy equation, and the electric field solution obtained from the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation, a hyperbolic partial differential equation is obtained to derive the flow field. The PEOF is controlled by the angular Reynolds number, the ratio of the zeta potentials of the microchannel walls, the electrokinetic parameter, and the elasticity number. The main results obtained from this analysis show strong oscillations in the velocity profiles when the values of the elasticity number and the angular Reynolds number increase due to the competition among the elastic, viscous, inertial, and electric forces in the flow.