Rapid AC Electrokinetic Micromixer with Electrically Conductive Sidewalls

We report a quasi T-channel electrokinetics-based micromixer with electrically conductive sidewalls, where the electric field is in the transverse direction of the flow and parallel to the conductivity gradient at the interface between two fluids to be mixed. Mixing results are first compared with another widely studied micromixer configuration, where electrodes are located at the inlet and outlet of the channel with electric field parallel to bulk flow direction but orthogonal to the conductivity gradient at the interface between the two fluids to be mixed. Faster mixing is achieved in the micromixer with conductive sidewalls. Effects of Re numbers, applied AC voltage and frequency, and conductivity ratio of the two fluids to be mixed on mixing results were investigated. The results reveal that the mixing length becomes shorter with low Re number and mixing with increased voltage and decreased frequency. Higher conductivity ratio leads to stronger mixing result. It was also found that, under low conductivity ratio, compared with the case where electrodes are located at the end of the channel, the conductive sidewalls can generate fast mixing at much lower voltage, higher frequency, and lower conductivity ratio. The study of this micromixer could broaden our understanding of electrokinetic phenomena and provide new tools for sample preparation in applications such as organ-on-a-chip where fast mixing is required.

Comparative Resistance of Concrete with Aggregates and Fillers of Different Composition

The paper studies the influence of aggregates and fillers with negative and positive electrical surface properties on the corrosion resistance of concrete. The advantage of resistance of fine-grained concrete on marble sand in comparison with concrete on quartz sand, regardless of the type of aggressive environment, is established. At the same time, the stability of samples of powdered concrete with 10 and 30% of fine-grained filler changed little when replacing the quartz powder with marble one. It is shown that the resistance coefficients of powdered concrete samples with quartz filler (10%) do not differ from the resistance coefficients of samples of a similar composition with crushed marble filler, and with an increase in the dosage of the filler (30 %) slightly exceed. It was found that in powder concretes without aggregates, the contact layer between the cement matrix and the aggregate is absent, so the composition of the mineral powder plays a much smaller role in the corrosion processes of cement stone. The obtained results allowed establishing that electrokinetic phenomena play a secondary role, and the main influence on the stability of fine-grained concrete is the processes of pore colmation by chemical reactions, as well as the interaction of the surface layers of the aggregate with the cement matrix.

ELECTROPHORESIS IN THE TOTAL (CONSTANT AND ALTERNATING) ELECTRIC FIELD. II. PECULIARITIES OF THE COMBINED IMPACT OF ALTERNATING AND CONSTANT ELECTRIC FIELDS

The hydrodynamics of electrophoresis under the simultaneous impact of constant and alternating electric fields is considered. It has been shown that when the constant and alternating external fields are combined, the energy of the constant electric field is transferred into the alternating hydrodynamic field. An example is given of a dispersed medium in which a giant dispersion of the dielectric constant can arise, which in turn can contribute to an increase in the total electrophoresis rate. Analogies of the behavior of the considered dispersed medium with the action of an electroacoustic transducer based on the use of electrokinetic phenomena are given.