Chemically driven fluid transport in long microchannels

Chemical gradients maintained along surfaces can drive fluid flows by diffusio-osmosis, which become significant at micro- and nano-scales. Here, by means of mesoscopic simulations, we show that a concentration drop across microchannels with periodically inhomogeneous boundary walls can laterally transport fluids over arbitrarily long distances along the microchannel. The driving field is the secondary local chemical gradient parallel to the channel induced by the periodic inhomogeneity of the channel wall. The flow velocity depends on the concentration drop across the channel and the structure and composition of the channel walls, but it is independent of the overall channel length. Our work thus presents new insight into the fluid transport in long microchannels commonly found in nature and is useful for designing novel micro- or nano-fluidic pumps.