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 मई 2021
Accepted
30 जून 2021
First published
01 जुलाई 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

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements