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Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Analyzing Mixing Inhomogeneity in a Microfluidic Device by Microscale Schlieren Technique
Published on: June 12, 2015
Thermodynamic Analysis of Capillary and Electric Field Effects on Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium: A Study on the
Samira Safaripour1, Gaurav Anand1, Craig Snoeyink1
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States.
Abstract:
This study investigates phase equilibrium manipulation in nonideal mixtures through a combined capillary and external electric field approach. Utilizing thermodynamic principles, an expression is established for estimating the equilibrium liquid mole fraction in a confined system subjected to a localized electric field within a capillary that is filled with a liquid phase in equilibrium with its vapor counterpart. Applied to a water-ethanol system, the model suggests large shifts in the equilibrium liquid mole fraction of water due to the electric field and capillary effects. These findings reveal that while the capillary's influence remains negligible for radii exceeding 10 nm, capillaries of smaller dimensions, when exposed to electric fields of around 300 MV/m, can amplify the equilibrium liquid water mole fraction by up to 55%. This suggests the potential for phase equilibrium control through larger capillaries and lower electric fields, while intriguing complexities arise at very small radii.
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