Electroosmotic Pumping of Nonconducting Liquids by Viscous Drag from a Secondary Conducting Liquid

摘要

A novel electroosmotic pump design relying on two-liquid viscous drag to pump nonconducting liquids is presented and analyzed theoretically. We denoted the pump a two-liquid viscous EOF pump. A conducting pumping liquid driven by electroosmotic flow (EOF) drags a nonconducting working liquid by viscous forces. In particular liquids such as oil, which normally cannot be moved by EOF, may be pumped. This allows for new types of analysis in the field of micro Total Analysis Systems (μTAS) which may prove important in the drug industry and for environmental monitoring. The characteristic flow rate Q and pressure p of the pump is in the range nL/s and kPa, respectively, but depends largely on achievable geometrical dimensions and applied voltage. This paper presents a theoretical and modeling study of the novel design.