Electrokinetic flow behavior in micro triangle channels
A theoretical calculation method of electrokinetic flow in micro equilateral triangle channels imposed with high electric field strength at both ends of channel was proposed based on the Galerkin method.The Poisson-Boltzmann equation and the momentum equation were solved to determine the electric potential field and electrokinetic flow field in micro equilateral triangle channels respectively.The effects of electric field strength,zeta potential,electrolyte concentration,fluid temperature,and micro triangle channel size on the electrokinetic flow behavior were discussed by virtue of the calculated electric potential profile and flow field profile.The mass flux of liquid in micro equilateral triangle channels increased with increasing zeta potential and electric field strength.A larger concentration of electrolyte and higher fluid temperature could lead to a larger mass flux of fluid.The mass flux of fluid firstly increased to a maximum value and then decreased as the size of micro equilateral triangle channel further increased,which implied that there existed a specific channel size corresponding to the maximum fluid mass flux of electrokinetic flow in the micro equilateral triangle channel under the same operation conditions.