Analysis of electro-osmotic flow characteristics at joint of capillaries with step change in zeta-potential and dimension.

The Navier-Stokes equation was used to describe the characteristics of electro-osmotic flow. The corresponding numerical simulations were performed for varying zeta-potential and dimension. The results indicated that a step change in zeta-potential will cause a significant variation in the velocity profile and pressure distribution of the flow. A step change both in zeta-potential and dimension will result in a more violent variation near the joint of the capillary. This variation will reduce the separation efficiency and quality of capillary electrophoresis. The conclusions are helpful to design and fabrication of microfluidic devices, the analysis of data collected from such devices and improvement of the separation efficiency of capillary electrophoresis.