Cenaiko S, Lijnse T, Dalton C. Multiphase Actuation of AC Electrothermal Micropump.
MICROMACHINES 2023;
14:758. [PMID:
37420991 DOI:
10.3390/mi14040758]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Electrothermal micropumps apply an AC electric field to a conductive fluid within the range of 10 kHz-1 MHz to generate fluid flow. In this frequency range, coulombic forces dominate fluid interactions over opposing dielectric forces, resulting in high flow rates (~50-100 μm/s). To date, the electrothermal effect-using asymmetrical electrodes-has been tested only with single-phase and 2-phase actuation, while dielectrophoretic micropumps have shown improved flow rates with 3- and 4-phase actuation. Simulating muti-phase signals in COMSOL Multiphysics requires additional modules and a more involved implementation to accurately represent the electrothermal effect in a micropump. Here, we report detailed simulations of the electrothermal effect under multi-phase conditions, including single-phase, 2-phase, 3-phase and 4-phase actuation patterns. These computational models indicate that 2-phase actuation leads to the highest flow rate, with 3-phase resulting in a 5% reduced flow rate and 4-phase resulting in an 11% reduced flow rate compared to 2-phase. With these modifications to the simulation, various actuation patterns can later be tested in COMSOL for a range of electrokinetic techniques.
Collapse