Combined electroosmotic and pressure-driven transport of neutral solutes across a rough, porous-walled microtube

A number of microfluidic systems of interest essentially consist of micro-scaled channels/tubes, whose walls are inherently rough. The novelty of the current study lies in exploring the impact of the wall roughness on mass transfer in the case of flow through a microtube with porous wall. The current investigation is possibly the first attempt at exploring the effect of mass transfer for a porous-walled, rough microtube, as earlier studies were limited to the analysis of hydrodynamic and thermal effects only in an impervious microtube. In particular, the effects of the corrugation amplitude and the wavenumber on the mass transport have been assessed in detail in this work, via a combination of perturbation approximations and numerical analysis. Several interesting revelations are elicited regarding the effects of these pertinent parameters on the mass transfer coefficient, permeation flux, wall surface concentration, and delivery flux of the neutral solute. It has been unveiled that it is possible to enhance the solute mass flux by 10% via appropriate tuning of corrugation amplitude. The findings of the study can help in better understanding of mass transport for a porous-walled, rough microtube, which has critical relevance in several important applications such as micromixers, targeted drug delivery, and so on.

Automated summary

This study explores the impact of wall roughness on mass transfer in a microtube with porous wall. The effects of corrugation amplitude and wavenumber on mass transport are assessed using perturbation approximations and numerical analysis. It is discovered that solute mass flux can be enhanced by 10% through appropriate tuning of corrugation amplitude. These findings contribute to a better understanding of mass transport in porous-walled, rough microtubes, which is crucial for applications such as micromixers and targeted drug delivery.