Bubble‐free electrokinetic flow with propylene carbonate
Abstract
For electroosmotic pumping, a large direct‐current (DC) electric field (10+ V/cm) is applied across a liquid, typically an aqueous electrolyte. At these high voltages, water undergoes electrolysis to form hydrogen and oxygen, generating bubbles that can block the electrodes, cause pressure fluctuations, and lead to pump failure. The requirement to manage these gases constrains system designs. This article presents an alternative polar liquid for DC electrokinetic pumping, propylene carbonate (PC), which remains free of bubbles up to at least 10 kV/cm. This offers the opportunity to create electrokinetic devices in closed configurations, which we demonstrate with a fully sealed microfluidic hydraulic actuator. Furthermore, the electroosmotic velocity of PC is similar to that of water in PDMS microchannels. Thus, water could be substituted by PC in existing electroosmotic pumps.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1002/elps.201400443
Entities
People
- Abraham Simpson Chen
- Bilal Naved
- Deepa Sritharan
- Elisabeth Smela
- Prabhath Aluthgama
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- National Science Foundation
- University of Maryland