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Electrokinetic instability near charge-selective hydrophobic surfaces
V S Shelistov1, E A Demekhin2, G S Ganchenko3
1Scientific Research Department, Kuban State University, Krasnodar, 350040, Russian Federation.
Abstract:
The influence of the texture of a hydrophobic surface on the electro-osmotic slip of the second kind and the electrokinetic instability near charge selective surfaces (permselective membranes, electrodes, or systems of microchannels and nanochannels) is investigated theoretically using a simple model based on the Rubinstein-Zaltzman approach. A simple formula is derived to evaluate the decrease in the instability threshold due to hydrophobicity. The study is complemented by numerical investigations both of linear and nonlinear instabilities near a hydrophobic membrane surface. Theory predicts a significant enhancement of the ion flux to the surface and shows a good qualitative agreement with the available experimental data.
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