Electro-osmotic flow over a charged superhydrophobic surface

Possibility of Obtaining Two Orders of Magnitude Larger Electrokinetic Streaming Potentials, through Liquid Infiltrated Surfaces

It is shown that the magnitude of the streaming potential (V_s) can be significantly enhanced from ∼0.02 V to as much as ∼1.6 V, in electrokinetic flows through microchannels. This was done through flows on liquid-filled surfaces, where the grooves were filled with oils of viscosity in the range 30-3000 mPa·s. The presence of immiscible oils and the improved slip are both factors that could significantly increase the V_s. The analytical relationship between streaming potential and filled liquid viscosity was derived and verified through corresponding experimental results. The work yields novel insights into complex electrolyte flows and indicates avenues for more efficient energy harvesting.

Tensorial Modulation of Electrokinetic Streaming Potentials on Air and Liquid Filled Surfaces

Textured surfaces, comprised of grooves filled with air, e.g., air-filled surfaces (AFS), or with liquid, e.g., liquid-filled surfaces (LFS), significantly influence fluid flows and the related electrokinetic streaming potential (V_s). Here, electroosmotic mobility related tensorial effects on the V_s were experimentally investigated. A significant modulation of the V_s, as high as 100%, due to transverse pressure gradients, was demonstrated. The study yields insights into understanding geometrical effects in electrolyte flows with implications to the establishment of local electric fields, energy generation, and biological separations.

Modulation of the Streaming Potential and Slip Characteristics in Electrolyte Flow over Liquid-Filled Surfaces

A significant enhancement in the streaming potential ( V_s) was obtained in experiments considering the flow of electrolyte over liquid-filled surfaces (LFSs), where the grooves in patterned substrates are filled with electrolyte immiscible oils. Such LFSs yield larger V_s (by a factor of 1.5) compared to superhydrophobic surfaces, with air-filled grooves, and offer tunability of electrokinetic flow. It is shown that the density, viscosity, conductivity, as well as the dielectric constant of the filling oil, in the LFS, determine V_s. Relating a hydrodynamic slip length to the obtained V_s offers insight into flow characteristics, as modulated by the liquid interfaces in the LFS.

Electro-osmotic flow along superhydrophobic surfaces with embedded electrodes

The effect of the secondary fluid enclosed in the indentations of a superhydrophobic surface on electro-osmotic flow is investigated. We derive analytical expressions for the net electro-osmotic flow over periodically structured surfaces, accounting for the influence of dissipation within the secondary fluid as well as for the role of charges at the fluid-fluid interfaces that are generated by auxiliary electrodes. Specifically, for a surface with rectangular grooves, the electro-osmotic flow velocity is related to the geometric parameters of the surface and the viscosity of an arbitrary secondary fluid filling the grooves. The results suggest that on specific superhydrophobic surfaces a flow enhancement by more than two orders of magnitude compared to unstructured surfaces can be expected.

Electrokinetics on superhydrophobic surfaces

On a superhydrophobic surface a liquid is exposed to a large air-water interface. The reduced wall friction is expected to cause a higher electro-osmotic mobility. On the other hand, the low charge density of a superhydrophobic surface reduces the electro-osmotic mobility. Due to a lack of experimental data it has not been clear so far whether the reduced wall friction or the reduced charge density dominate the electrokinetic mobilities. To separate the relative contributions of electrophoresis and electro-osmosis, the mobilities of colloids on a negatively charged hydrophilic, a superhydrophobic (Cassie) and a partially hydrophilized superhydrophobic (Cassie composite) coating were measured. To vary the charge density as well as its sign with respect to those of the colloids the partially hydrophilized surfaces were coated with polyelectrolytes. We analyzed the electrokinetic mobilities of negatively charged polystyrene colloids dispersed in aqueous medium on porous hydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces by confocal laser scanning electron microscopy. In all cases, the external electric field was parallel to the surface. The total electrokinetic mobilities on the superhydrophobic (Cassie) and negatively charged partially hydrophilized (Cassie composite) surfaces were similar, showing that electro-osmosis is small compared to electrophoresis. The positively charged Cassie composite surfaces tend to 'trap' the colloids due to attracting electrostatic interactions and rough morphology, reducing the mobility. Thus, either the charge density of the coatings in the Cassie composite state or its slip length is too low to enhance electro-osmosis.

Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter states of an electrolytic drop on charged surfaces

In this paper, we provide a theory for the Wenzel and the Cassie-Baxter states of an electrolyte drop on charged surfaces. An electric double layer (EDL) develops when the electrolyte drop comes in contact with the charged surface. Therefore, the EDL free energy affects these states by triggering a hydrophilicity-inducing tendency. Consequently, an originally hydrophilic condition leads to a superhydrophilic Wenzel state, and an originally hydrophobic condition leads to a less hydrophobic Wenzel state. For the Cassie-Baxter state, this gives rise to the most remarkable situation of a hydrophilic (as compared to the original) Cassie-Baxter state.