Issue 16, 2021

Inducing AC-electroosmotic flow using electric field manipulation with insulators

Abstract

Classically, the configuration of electrodes (conductors) is used as a means to determine AC-electroosmotic flow patterns. In this paper, we use the configuration of insulator materials to achieve AC-electroosmotic flow patterning in a novel approach. We apply AC electric fields between parallel electrodes situated on the top and bottom of a microfluidic channel and separated by an insulating material. Channels of various cross-sectional shapes (e.g. rectangular and parallelogram) were fabricated by shaping the insulating material between the electrodes. We found that vortex flow patterns are induced depending on the cross-sectional shape of the channel. A bell-shaped design with non-orthogonal corners gave rise to 2 vortices, whereas in a channel with a parallelogram shaped cross-section, only a single vortex was observed. The vortices were experimentally observed by analysing the 3D trajectories of fluorescent microparticles. From a theoretical analysis, we conclude that flow shaping is primarily caused by shaping the electrical field lines in the channel.

Graphical abstract: Inducing AC-electroosmotic flow using electric field manipulation with insulators

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 ሜይ 2021
Accepted
30 ጁን 2021
First published
01 ጁላይ 2021

Lab Chip, 2021,21, 3105-3111

Inducing AC-electroosmotic flow using electric field manipulation with insulators

C. Tiflidis, E. Y. Westerbeek, K. F. A. Jorissen, W. Olthuis, J. C. T. Eijkel and W. De Malsche, Lab Chip, 2021, 21, 3105 DOI: 10.1039/D1LC00393C

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