Flow and Species Transport Control in Grooved Micro-Channels

Author(s):  
Jungyoon Hahm ◽  
Ali Beskok

We demonstrate flow control concepts in a grooved micro-channel using selectively patterned, electroosmotically active surfaces and locally applied electric fields. This framework enables formation of rather complex flow patterns in simple micro-geometries. Ability to vary the electric field magnitude and its polarity also manifests time-dependent flow alterations, which results in flow and species transport control abilities. The results obtained in a single micro-groove constitute the proof of concept for flow and species transport control in an integrated serial micro-fluidic process, where multiple species can be trapped and released in prescribed amounts in a micro-channel with multiple grooves. The groove size determines volume of the entrapped species. In addition, each groove can simultaneously contain one or two species at the same time. The proposed flow and species transport control scheme allows control over the interspecies diffusion and mixing time and length scales by simply adjusting the electric field direction and its magnitude. We envision utilization of flow and species transport in a grooved micro channel, where combinatorial chemistry experiments can be performed using multiple grooves, where each groove can be addressed (filled, emptied or mixed) independently.

Author(s):  
Weiyu Liu ◽  
Yukun Ren ◽  
Ye Tao ◽  
Xiaoming Chen ◽  
Qisheng Wu

In this work, we focus on investigating electrothermal flow in a rotating electric field (ROT-ETF), with primary attention paid to the horizontal traveling-wave electrothermal (TWET) vortex induced at the center of the electric field. The frequency-dependent flow profiles in the microdevice are analyzed using different heat transfer models. Accordingly, we address in particular the importance of electrode cooling in ROT-ETF as metal electrodes of high thermal conductivity while substrate material of low heat dissipation capability are employed to develop such microfluidic chips. Under this circumstance, cooling of electrode array due to external natural convection on millimeter-scale electrode pads for external wire connection occurs and makes the internal temperature maxima shift from the electrode plane to a bit of distance right above the cross-shaped interelectrode gaps, giving rise to reversal of flow rotation from a typical repulsion-type to attraction-type induction vortex, which is in good accordance with our experimental observations of co-field TWET streaming at frequencies on the order of reciprocal charge relaxation time of the bulk fluid. These results point out a way to make a correct interpretation of out-of-phase electrothermal streaming behavior, which holds great potential for handing high-conductivity analytes in modern microfluidic systems.


Author(s):  
Yaozu Song ◽  
Feng Chen ◽  
Yao Peng

It has been well-known that externally imposed static electric fields have a significant effect on bubble dynamic behavior, especially on bubble departure behavior. With increasing electric field strength, bubble detachment volume decreases and bubble shape elongates along the electric field direction. It is electric field forces that change bubble behavior. The electric field forces can be calculated from theoretical formula for a simple electrode structure. However, for the complex electrode system, it is rather a tough thing to theoretically solve electric field forces. In this work a new method to experimentally estimate electric field forces exerted on a single bubble has been presented. Experimental estimation primarily depends upon decreasing in the buoyancy on the bubble. Furthermore, the calculations coming from theoretical formula have also been completed and the results show that experimental estimations agree well with theoretical calculations.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2984
Author(s):  
Muhammad Salman Abbasi ◽  
Haroon Farooq ◽  
Hassan Ali ◽  
Ali Hussain Kazim ◽  
Rabia Nazir ◽  
...  

The electrohydrodynamic deformation of an emulsion droplet with a clean and particle-covered interface was explored. Here, the electrohydrodynamic deformation was numerically and experimentally demonstrated under the stimuli of moderate and strong electric fields. The numerical method involves the coupling of the Navier–Stokes equation with the level set equation of interface tracking and the governing equations of so-called leaky dielectric theory. The simulation model developed for a clean interface droplet was then extended to a capsule model for densely particle-covered droplets. The experiments were conducted using various combinations of immiscible oils and particle suspensions while the electric field strength ~105 V/m was generated using a high voltage supply. The experimental images obtained by the camera were post-processed using an in-house image processing code developed on the plat-form of MATLAB software. The results show that particle-free droplets can undergo prolate (deformation in the applied electric field direction) or oblate deformation (deformation that is perpendicular to the direction of the applied electric field) of the droplet interface, whereas the low-conductivity particles can be manipulated at the emulsion interface to form a ‘belt’, ‘helmet’ or ‘cup’ morphologies. A densely particle-covered droplet may not restore to its initial spherical shape due to ‘particle jamming’ at the interface, resulting in the formation of unique droplet shapes. Densely particle-covered droplets behave like droplets covered with a thin particle sheet, a capsule. The deformation of such droplets is explored using a simulation model under a range of electric capillary numbers (i.e., the ratio of the electric stresses to the capillary stresses acting at the droplet interface). The results obtained are then compared with the theory and experimental findings. It was shown that the proposed simulation model can serve as a tool to predict the deformation/distortion of both the particle-free and the densely particle-covered droplets within the small deformation limit. We believe that this study could provide new findings for the fabrication of complex-shaped species and colloidosomes.


Author(s):  
Shahrzad Yazdi ◽  
Reza Monazami ◽  
Mahmoud A. Salehi

In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model is developed to analyze flow characteristics of pressure driven, electroosmotic and combined pressure driven-electroosmotic flows through micro-channels. The governing system of equations consists of the electric-field and flow-field equations. The solution procedure involves three steps. The net charge distribution on the cross section of the micro-channel is computed by solving two-dimensional Poisson-Boltzmann equation using the finite element method. Then, using the computed fluid’s charge distribution, the magnitude of the resulting body force due to interaction of an external electric field with the charged fluid is calculated along the micro-channel. Finally, three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are solved by considering the presence of the electro-kinetic body forces in the flow system for electroosmotic and combined pressure driven electroosmotic flow cases. The results reveal that the flow patterns for combined PD-EO cases are significantly different from the parabolic velocity profile of the laminar pressure-driven flow. The effect of the liquid bulk ionic concentration and the external electric field strength on flow patterns through the square-shaped micro-channels is also investigated over a wide range of external electric field strengths and bulk ionic concentration.


2006 ◽  
Vol 306-308 ◽  
pp. 1199-1204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhan Wei Liu ◽  
Dai Ning Fang ◽  
Hui Min Xie

In this paper, fracture behavior of ferroelectric ceramics under combined electromechanical loading was investigated using moiré interferometry. It is found that the influence of electric field on fracture toughness is not very larger in the case that the directions of the poling, electric field and crack extension are perpendicular to each other. When the poling direction is parallel to the crack extension direction and both are perpendicular to the electric field direction, the normal strain measured reduced faster than that calculated by FEM with and without electrical loading as the distance away from the crack tip increases. Fracture toughness decreases obviously as the electric-field intensity increases.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes P. Dürholt ◽  
Babak Farhadi Jahromi ◽  
Rochus Schmid

Recently the possibility of using electric fields as a further stimulus to trigger structural changes in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been investigated. In general, rotatable groups or other types of mechanical motion can be driven by electric fields. In this study we demonstrate how the electric response of MOFs can be tuned by adding rotatable dipolar linkers, generating a material that exhibits paralectric behavior in two dimensions and dielectric behavior in one dimension. The suitability of four different methods to compute the relative permittivity κ by means of molecular dynamics simulations was validated. The dependency of the permittivity on temperature T and dipole strength μ was determined. It was found that the herein investigated systems exhibit a high degree of tunability and substantially larger dielectric constants as expected for MOFs in general. The temperature dependency of κ obeys the Curie-Weiss law. In addition, the influence of dipolar linkers on the electric field induced breathing behavior was investigated. With increasing dipole moment, lower field strength are required to trigger the contraction. These investigations set the stage for an application of such systems as dielectric sensors, order-disorder ferroelectrics or any scenario where movable dipolar fragments respond to external electric fields.


Photonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Haichao Yu ◽  
Feng Tang ◽  
Jingjun Wu ◽  
Zao Yi ◽  
Xin Ye ◽  
...  

In intense-light systems, the traditional discrete optical components lead to high complexity and high cost. Metasurfaces, which have received increasing attention due to the ability to locally manipulate the amplitude, phase, and polarization of light, are promising for addressing this issue. In the study, a metasurface-based reflective deflector is investigated which is composed of silicon nanohole arrays that confine the strongest electric field in the air zone. Subsequently, the in-air electric field does not interact with the silicon material directly, attenuating the optothermal effect that causes laser damage. The highest reflectance of nanoholes can be above 99% while the strongest electric fields are tuned into the air zone. One presentative deflector is designed based on these nanoholes with in-air-hole field confinement and anti-damage potential. The 1st order of the meta-deflector has the highest reflectance of 55.74%, and the reflectance sum of all the orders of the meta-deflector is 92.38%. The optothermal simulations show that the meta-deflector can theoretically handle a maximum laser density of 0.24 W/µm2. The study provides an approach to improving the anti-damage property of the reflective phase-control metasurfaces for intense-light systems, which can be exploited in many applications, such as laser scalpels, laser cutting devices, etc.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie C. Lefevre ◽  
Gerwin Dijk ◽  
Attila Kaszas ◽  
Martin Baca ◽  
David Moreau ◽  
...  

AbstractGlioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain tumor, very invasive and thus difficult to eradicate with standard oncology therapies. Bioelectric treatments based on pulsed electric fields have proven to be a successful method to treat cancerous tissues. However, they rely on stiff electrodes, which cause acute and chronic injuries, especially in soft tissues like the brain. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of delivering pulsed electric fields with flexible electronics using an in ovo vascularized tumor model. We show with fluorescence widefield and multiphoton microscopy that pulsed electric fields induce vasoconstriction of blood vessels and evoke calcium signals in vascularized glioblastoma spheroids stably expressing a genetically encoded fluorescence reporter. Simulations of the electric field delivery are compared with the measured influence of electric field effects on cell membrane integrity in exposed tumor cells. Our results confirm the feasibility of flexible electronics as a means of delivering intense pulsed electric fields to tumors in an intravital 3D vascularized model of human glioblastoma.


Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 298
Author(s):  
Yannick Minet ◽  
Hans Zappe ◽  
Ingo Breunig ◽  
Karsten Buse

Whispering gallery resonators made out of lithium niobate allow for optical parametric oscillation and frequency comb generation employing the outstanding second-order nonlinear-optical properties of this material. An important knob to tune and control these processes is, e.g., the linear electro-optic effect, the Pockels effect via externally applied electric fields. Due to the shape of the resonators a precise prediction of the electric field strength that affects the optical mode is non-trivial. Here, we study the average strength of the electric field in z-direction in the region of the optical mode for different configurations and geometries of lithium niobate whispering gallery resonators with the help of the finite element method. We find that in some configurations almost 100% is present in the cavity compared to the ideal case of a cylindrical resonator. Even in the case of a few-mode resonator with a very thin rim we find a strength of 90%. Our results give useful design considerations for future arrangements that may benefit from the strong electro-optic effect in bulk whispering gallery resonators made out of lithium niobate.


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