Induced-charge Electrokinetic Flow Research Articles

Transient characteristics of electric double layer charging and the associated induced-charge electrokinetic flow

This paper presents a detailed numerical analysis of the transient characteristics of electric double layer (EDL) charging and the associated induced-charge electrokinetic (ICEK) flow around an ideally polarizable cylinder. To this end, we solved numerically the coupled Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Navier-Stokes equations with the finite element method. The numerical simulation provides an unprecedented full-field (including the EDL region) characterization of the transient evolutions of ion transport, electric potential, and fluid flow during the EDL charging. The simulation results show that the EDL charging is driven by the electric current normal to the cylinder surface. With EDL being charged, the charge density in the EDL counteracts the local external electric field on the cylinder surface to reduce the electric current, which then leads to the slowing down of the EDL charging. At the steady state, the EDL becomes fully charged and the charge density in EDL exactly counteracts the external electric field, and then the EDL charging stops. During the EDL charging, the interaction of the external electric field with the charge density in the EDL drives the liquid in the EDL to move first, and then as time evolves, the liquid in the bulk electrolyte sets in motion because of the momentum transfer between the EDL and the bulk. These findings are conducive to the understanding of the transient dynamics of ICEK phenomena around polarizable objects.

A numerical investigation of a novel micro-pump based on the induced charged electrokinetic phenomenon in the presence of a conducting circular obstacle

A new micro-pump based on the electrokinetic phenomenon is numerically studied using a conducting circular obstacle placed in a junction of three micro-channels. The induced-charge electrokinetic flow over the conducting obstacle generates vortices and provides a pressure gradient, resulting in pumping the solution towards the micro-pump outlet. A theoretical model based on the thin electric double layer (EDL) is developed to simulate the influence of the applied electric field on the flow field. The numerical results indicate that the induced pressure and the mass flow rate in the pump outlet are affected by the electric field magnitude, micro-channel walls zeta potential, circular obstacle size and its position.

Focusing particles by induced charge electrokinetic flow in a microchannel.

A novel method of sheathless particle focusing by induced charge electrokinetic flow in a microchannel is presented in this paper. By placing a pair of metal plates on the opposite walls of the channel and applying an electrical field, particle focusing is achieved due to the two pairs of vortex that constrain the flow of the particle solution. As an example, the trajectories of particles under different electrical fields with only one metal plate on one side channel wall were numerically simulated and experimentally validated. Other flow focusing effects, such as the focused width ratio (focused width/channel width) and length ratio (focused length/half-length of metal plate) of the sample solution, were also numerically studied. The results show that the particle firstly passes through the gaps between the upstream vortices and the channel walls. Afterwards, the particle is focused to pass through the gap between the two downstream vortices that determine the focused particle position. Numerical simulations show that the focused particle stream becomes thin with the increases in the applied electrical field and the length of the metal plates. As regards to the focused length ratio of the focused stream, however, it slightly increases with the increase in the applied electrical field and almost keeps constant with the increase in the length of the metal plate. The size of the focused sample solution, therefore, can be easily adjusted by controlling the applied electrical field and the sizes of the metal plates.

Preparation, applications, and digital simulation of carbon interdigitated array electrodes.

Carbon interdigitated array (IDA) electrodes with features sizes down to 1.2 μm were fabricated by controlled pyrolysis of patterned photoresist. Cyclic voltammetry of reversible redox species produced the expected steady-state currents. The collection efficiency depends on the IDA electrode spacing, which ranged from around 2.7 to 16.5 μm, with the smaller dimensions achieving higher collection efficiencies of up to 98%. The signal amplification because of redox cycling makes it possible to detect species at relatively low concentrations (10(-5) molar) and the small spacing allows detection of transient electrogenerated species with much shorter lifetimes (submillisecond). Digital simulation software that accounts for both the width and height of electrode elements as well as the electrode spacing was developed to model the IDA electrode response. The simulations are in quantitative agreement with experimental data for both a simple fast one electron redox reaction and an electron transfer with a following chemical reaction at the IDAs with larger gaps whereas currents measured for the smallest IDA electrodes, that were larger than the simulated currents, are attributed to convection from induced charge electrokinetic flow.

Experimental validation of induced-charge electrokinetic motion of electrically conducting particles

A key characteristic in the theory of the induced charge electrokinetic flow is the vortices generated by the interaction of the applied electric field with the induced dipolar electric double layers around an electrically conducting surface. The vortices can significantly influence the electrokinetic motion of a particle with an electrically conducting surface. This paper provides the visual evidence of the vortices in the induced charge electrokinetic flow in a “DC field” around a metal surface that is “not an active electrode”. According to authors’ knowledge, this is the first experimental proof of induced-charge electrokinetic phenomena for DC electric field while all the literatures employed the AC field as the acting force during the experiments. Moreover, former studies had mostly reported the vortices around active electrode, used as a conducting surface. Current paper reports the induced vortices around a non-electrode conducting surface. In addition, the experimental results of this paper show that the measured velocity of the electrokinetic motion of particles with a metal hemisphere in a microchannel is much higher than that of the non-conducting polymer particles of the same size under the electric field. These experimental data agree well with the theoretical prediction.

Design of super-efficient mixer based on induced charge electroosmotic

The super-efficient sample mixing induced by the induced-charge electrokinetic flow around conducting/Janus cylinder was numerically studied in a confined |U-shaped microchannel with suddenly applied DC weak electric filed. It?s found that there are four large circulations around the conducting cylinder and two smaller circulations around the Janus cylinder. The results show that samples can still be well mixed with high flux due to the induced electroosmosis. It is demonstrated that the local flow circulations provide effective means to enhance the flow mixing between different solutions. The dependence of the degree of mixing enhancement on the electric field is also predicted.

Control of flow rate and concentration in microchannel branches by induced-charge electrokinetic flow

This paper presents a numerical study of controlling the flow rate and the concentration in a microchannel network by utilizing induced-charge electrokinetic flow (ICEKF). ICEKF over an electrically conducting surface in a microchannel will generate vortices, which can be used to adjust the flow rates and the concentrations in different microchannel branches. The flow field and concentration field were studied under different applied electric fields and with different sizes of the conducting surfaces. The results show that, by using appropriate size of the conducting surfaces in appropriate locations, the microfluidic system can generate not only streams of the same flow rate or linearly decreased flow rates in different channels, but also different, uniform concentrations within a short mixing length quickly.

Micro-valve using induced-charge electrokinetic motion of Janus particle

A new micro-valve using the electrokinetic motion of a Janus particle is introduced in this paper. A Janus particle with a conducting hemisphere and a non-conducting hemisphere is placed in a junction of several microchannels. Under an applied electric field, the induced-charge electrokinetic flow around the conducting side of the Janus particle forms vortices. The vortices push the particle moving forwards to block the entrance of a microchannel. By switching the direction of the applied electric field, the motion of the Janus particle can be changed to block different microchannels. This paper develops a theoretical model and conducts numerical simulations of the three-dimensional transient motion of the Janus particle. The results show that this Janus particle-based micro-valve is feasible for switching and controlling the flow rate in a microfluidic chip. This method is simple in comparison with other types of micro-valve methods. It is easy for fabrication, for operation control, and has a fast response time. To better understand the micro-valve functions, comparisons with a non-conducting particle and a fully conducting particle were made. Results proved that only a Janus particle can fulfill the requirements of such a micro-valve.

Micromixing using induced-charge electrokinetic flow

The mixing effect of induced-charge electrokinetic flow (ICEKF) in a rectangular microchannel with embedded conducting hurdles is investigated in this paper. A correction method is suggested to estimate numerically the induced zeta potential on the conducting surface. Two-dimensional pressure-linked Navier–Stokes equation is used to model the flow field in the channel. The numerical results show flow circulations generated from the induced non-uniform zeta potential distribution along the conducting hurdle surfaces. It is demonstrated that the local flow circulations provide effective means to enhance the flow mixing between different solutions. The mixing enhancement effect is experimentally validated using PDMS based microchannels with embedded platinum hurdles. The dependence of the degree of mixing enhancement on the hurdle geometries and hurdle numbers is also predicted. The mixing using ICEKF described in this paper can be used in various microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip applications.

Mixing and flow regulating by induced-charge electrokinetic flow in a microchannel with a pair of conducting triangle hurdles

The induced-charge electrokinetic flow (ICEKF) in a rectangular micorchannel with a pair of conducting triangle hurdles embedded in the middle is investigated in this paper. A correction method is suggested to numerically estimate the induced zeta potential on the conducting surface. Two-dimensional pressure-linked Navier-–Stokes equation is used to model the flow field in the channel. The numerical results show flow circulations generated from the induced non-uniform zeta potential distribution along the conducting hurdle surfaces. It is demonstrated numerically that the local flow circulations provide effective means to enhance the flow mixing between different solutions; by adjusting the electric field applied through the microchannel with a non-symmetric triangle hurdle pair, an electrokinetic flow regulating effect can be obtained and this effect depends on the dimensions of the conducting converging–diverging section. The mixing and flow regulating using ICEKF described in this paper can be used in various microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applications.