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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Analyzing Mixing Inhomogeneity in a Microfluidic Device by Microscale Schlieren Technique
Published on: June 12, 2015
On micro-electrokinetic scalar turbulence in microfluidics at a low Reynolds number
Guiren Wang1, Fang Yang, Wei Zhao
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. guirenwang@sc.edu.
Abstract:
We recently demonstrated the direct observation of micro-electrokinetic turbulence in a microchannel at a low Reynolds number (Re) when a pressure-driven flow was forced electrokinetically. Here, we characterize the corresponding scalar turbulence and surprisingly find that the corresponding turbulent mixing has some typical and important features of scalar turbulence, such as the Obukhov-Corrsin (O-C) -5/3 spectrum of concentration fluctuation, which can commonly be realized only at high Re in macroflows. This discovery could provide a new perspective of scalar turbulence and an avenue for control of transport phenomena in lab-on-a-chip platforms. This will deepen our fundamental understanding of transport phenomena in microfluidics.
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