Experimental Study of a Large Vortex Flow Across a Channel through Induced-Charge Electroosmosis

摘要

The generation of a large vortex flow is intrinsically important to ensure mixing in the entire area of a microfluidic channel for flows with a low Reynolds number because a small vortex flow only produces local mixing. In this study, by using gold posts arranged in a zigzag manner between electrodes, we experimentally demonstrate that a large vortex flow across a channel can be generated through induced-charge electroosmosis (ICEO). That is, by particle image velocimetry, we obtained experimental flow fields and compared them with the theoretical results obtained by the coupled calculation method. The results were in qualitative agreement, although the directions of the vortex flows changed with the ranges of the applied voltages and frequencies.