INFLUENCE OF THE GEOMETRY OF ASYMMETRICAL ELECTRODE ARRAYS ON THE ALTERNATING CURRENT ELECTRO-OSMOSIS FLOW IN MICROCHANNELS

The Influence of the geometry of asymmetric electrode arrays on the alternating current (AC) electro-osmosis flow in microchannels were experimentally studied, including the width of the electrodes, the gap between the electrodes, and the gap between the electrode pairs. The results showed that the asymmetry of the wide and narrow electrodes in the electrode pair and the gap between the adjacent electrode pairs in the electrode array are crucial in the actual device design. The optimized global pumping effect of the asymmetric electrode array can be achieved in the case of significant asymmetry in the wide and narrow electrodes in the electrode pair and the narrow gap between the adjacent electrode pairs in the electrode array. Moreover, an interesting phenomenon occurred in the case of the asymmetric electrode array with a gap of 100 mu m between the adjacent electrode pairs.