Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Generation and Control of Electrohydrodynamic Flows in Aqueous Electrolyte Solutions
Published on: September 7, 2018
Effect of interfacial Maxwell stress on time periodic electro-osmotic flow in a thin liquid film with a flat
Manik Mayur1, Sakir Amiroudine, Didier Lasseux
1Université Bordeaux 1, Institut de Mécanique et d'Ingénierie - I2M, Pessac, France.
Abstract:
Electro-osmotic flows (EOF) have seen remarkable applications in lab-on-a-chip based microdevices owing to their lack of moving components, durability, and nondispersive nature of the flow profiles under specifically designed conditions. However, such flows may typically suffer from classical Faradaic artifacts like electrolysis of the solvent, which affects the flow rate control. Such a problem has been seen to be overcome by employing time periodic EOFs. Electric field induced transport of a conductive liquid is another nontrivial problem that requires careful study of interfacial dynamics in response to such an oscillatory flow actuation. The present study highlights the role of electric field generated Maxwell stress and free surface potential along with the electric double layer thickness and forcing frequency, toward influencing the interfacial transport and fluid flow in free-surface electro-osmosis under a periodically varying external electric field, in a semi-analytical formalism. Our results reveal interesting regimes over which the pertinent interfacial phenomena as well as bulk transport characteristics may be favorably tuned by employing time varying electrical fields.
Related Concept Videos
Newtonian Fluid: Problem Solving
A velocity gradient forms within the fluid when a Newtonian fluid is placed between two parallel plates, with...
Steady, Laminar Flow Between Parallel Plates
Interfacial Electrochemical Methods: Overview
The Electrical Double Layer
Navier–Stokes Equations
Fluid Pressure over Flat Plate of Variable Width
The pressure distribution on the plate can be calculated by determining the force that acts on a differential area strip of the plate. Thus, the magnitude of the force is equal to the...

