Editorial for the Special Issue on Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics, Volume II

There has been a rapidly increasing interest in the use of micro/nanofluidics to develop various point-of-care technologies for global health [1,2]. Electrokinetics is often the method of choice in these micro/nano-chips for an accurate transport and manipulation of fluids and samples [3,4]. This special issue in Micromachines is the continuation of our successful first volume on Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics [5]. It consists of 22 contributions, which cover multiple aspects of electrokinetics related phenomena for various chemical and biological applications. We divide these papers into three primary categories and summarize them briefly below

Electroosmotic Flow of Viscoelastic Fluid in a Nanochannel Connecting Two Reservoirs

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) of viscoelastic fluid with Linear Phan-Thien–Tanner (LPTT) constitutive model in a nanochannel connecting two reservoirs is numerically studied. For the first time, the influence of viscoelasticity on the EOF and the ionic conductance in the micro-nanofluidic interconnect system, with consideration of the electrical double layers (EDLs), is investigated. Regardless of the bulk salt concentration, significant enhancement of the flow rate is observed for viscoelastic fluid compared to the Newtonian fluid, due to the shear thinning effect. An increase in the ionic conductance of the nanochannel occurs for the viscoelastic fluid. The enhancement of the ionic conductance is significant under the overlapping EDLs condition

Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics

Micro/nanofluidic chips have found increasing applications in the analysis of chemical and biological samples over the past two decades. Electrokinetics has become the method of choice in these micro/nano-chips for transporting, manipulating and sensing ions, (bio)molecules, fluids and (bio)particles, etc., due to the high maneuverability, scalability, sensitivity, and integrability. The involved phenomena, which cover electroosmosis, electrophoresis, dielectrophoresis, electrohydrodynamics, electrothermal flow, diffusioosmosis, diffusiophoresis, streaming potential, current, etc., arise from either the inherent or the induced surface charge on the solid-liquid interface under DC and/or AC electric fields. To review the state-of-the-art of micro/nanochip electrokinetics, we welcome, in this Special Issue of Micromachines, all original research or review articles on the fundamentals and applications of the variety of electrokinetic phenomena in both microfluidic and nanofluidic devices

Editorial for the Special Issue on Micromachines for Non-Newtonian Microfluidics

In lieu of an abstract, this is an excerpt from the first page. Microfluidics has seen a remarkable growth over the past few decades, with its extensive applications in engineering, medicine, biology, chemistry, etc [...

Editorial for the Special Issue on Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics

Micro/nanofluidics-based lab-on-a-chip devices have found extensive applications in the analysis of chemical and biological samples over the past two decades. Electrokinetics is the method of choice in these micro/nano-chips for transporting, manipulating and sensing various analyte species (e.g., ions, molecules, fluids and particles, etc.) [1,2]. This Special Issue in Micromachines is aimed to provide the recent development in the field of Micro/Nano-Chip Electrokinetics. It consists of 15 papers, which cover both fundamentals and applications, original research and review

Theoretical Investigation of Electroosmotic Flows and Chaotic Stirring in Rectangular Cavities

Two dimensional, time-independent and time-dependent electro-osmotic flows driven by a uniform electric field in a closed rectangular cavity with uniform and nonuniform zeta potential distributions along the cavity’s walls are investigated theoretically. First, we derive an expression for the one-dimensional velocity and pressure profiles for a flow in a slender cavity with uniform (albeit possibly different) zeta potentials at its top and bottom walls. Subsequently, using the method of superposition, we compute the flow in a finite length cavity whose upper and lower walls are subjected to non-uniform zeta potentials. Although the solutions are in the form of infinite series, with appropriate modifications, the series converge rapidly, allowing one to compute the flow fields accurately while maintaining only a few terms in the series. Finally, we demonstrate that by time-wise periodic modulation of the zeta potential, one can induce chaotic advection in the cavity. Such chaotic flows can be used to stir and mix fluids. Since devices operating on this principle do not require any moving parts, they may be particularly suitable for microfluidic devices

A mathematical model of lateral flow bioreactions applied to sandwich assays

Lateral flow (LF) bio-detectors facilitate low-cost, rapid identification of various analytes at the point of care. The LF cell consists of a porous membrane containing immobilized ligands at various locations. Through the action of capillary forces, samples and reporter particles are transported to the ligand sites. The LF membrane is then scanned or probed, and the concentration of reporter particles is measured. A mathematical model for sandwich assays is constructed and used to study the performance of the LF device under various operating conditions. The model provides insights into certain experimental observations including the reduction in the level of the detected signal at high target analyte concentrations. Furthermore, the model can be used to test rapidly and inexpensively various operating conditions, assist in the device\u27s design, and optimize the performance of the LF device

Magnetohydrodynamic flow of RedOx electrolyte

Magnetohydrodynamic MHD flow of a RedOx electrolyte in a straight conduit is investigated theoretically. Inert electrodes are deposited along segments of the opposing walls of a straight conduit that is filled with a RedOx electrolyte solution. The conduit is positioned in a uniform magnetic field. When a potential difference is applied across the opposing electrodes, the resulting current interacts with the magnetic field to induce Lorentz forces. The species\u27 mass transport and the momentum equation are coupled and must be solved simultaneously. We compute the various species\u27 concentration distributions, the current flux distribution, and the liquid\u27s motion in the absence and presence of pressure gradients. The pressure gradients may either assist or oppose the MHD flow. At low potential differences, the current and the induced MHD flow increase nearly linearly as the potential difference increases. When the potential difference exceeds a certain critical value, the current and the flow rate saturate. We demonstrate that it is advantageous to use multiple electrode pairs with dielectric gaps between adjacent electrodes rather than a single electrode pair with an equivalent length. Finally, MHD flow with RedOx solution in the presence of abundant supporting electrolyte under limiting current conditions is analyzed using boundary layer theory. The approximate analytical solutions for the ions concentrations and the current agree well with the numerical solutions