Irrotationality of uniform electro-osmosis

Eric B. Cummings; Stewart K. Griffiths; Robert H. Nilson

doi:10.1117/12.359336

19 August 1999 Irrotationality of uniform electro-osmosis

Eric B. Cummings, Stewart K. Griffiths, Robert H. Nilson

Proceedings Volume 3877, Microfluidic Devices and Systems II; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.359336
Event: Symposium on Micromachining and Microfabrication, 1999, Santa Clara, CA, United States

Abstract

Steady electroosmotic flow of uniform liquids in uniform media is irrotational provided the electric double layers adjacent to surfaces are negligibly thin, the surfaces are non-conducting and impermeable, and the total pressure imposed at inlets and outlets is uniform. Because many microfluidic devices employing electroosmosis approximately satisfy these requirements, this ideal electrosmosis is a limiting case with considerable practical significance. In ideal electroosmosis, fluid motion follows current lines. Flow-fields have no Reynolds number dependence and are everywhere proportional to the electric field. Both fields may be obtained by a single solution of the Laplace equation. In this paper, we discuss these features of ideal electroosmotic flows and present particle-image derived velocity fields that confirm ideal flow conditions in glass microchannel networks.

Citation Download Citation

Eric B. Cummings, Stewart K. Griffiths, and Robert H. Nilson "Irrotationality of uniform electro-osmosis", Proc. SPIE 3877, Microfluidic Devices and Systems II, (19 August 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.359336

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