Simulation of mixed electroosmotic/pressure-driven flows by utilizing dissipative particle dynamics

Abstract

In this paper, we present an extension of dissipative particle dynamics method in order to study the mixed electroosmotic/pressure-driven micro- or nano-flows. This method is based on the Poisson–Boltzmann equation and has a great potential to resolve the electric double layer (EDL). Hence, apart from studying the bulk flow, it also provides a strong capability in order to resolve the complex phenomena occur inside the EDL. We utilize the proposed method to study the pure electroosmotic and also the mixed electroosmotic/pressure-driven flow through the straight micro-/nano-channels. The obtained results are in good agreement with the available analytical solutions. Furthermore, we study the electroosmotic flow and motion of DNA molecules through a T-shaped micro-channel. We show that neglecting the EDL and utilizing the slip wall boundary condition model can result in crucially misleading hydrodynamic characteristics if the EDL is comparable to the width of the channel. Finally, we utilize the presented method in order to study the complex flow patterns, which are created due to the heterogeneous distribution of the electric potential of the walls. These complex flow patterns usually are utilized in order to enhance the efficiency of mixing process in micro-/nano-length scales. In addition, we show that they can also be utilized effectively in order to separate the different macro-molecules such as polymers, DNA molecules and so on, according to their length of chain.