Electroosmotic flow hysteresis for dissimilar ionic solutions.

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) with two or more fluids is commonly encountered in various microfluidics applications. However, no investigation has hitherto been conducted to investigate the hysteretic or flow direction-dependent behavior during the displacement flow of solutions with dissimilar ionic species. In this investigation, electroosmotic displacement flow involving dissimilar ionic solutions was studied experimentally through a current monitoring method and numerically through finite element simulations. The flow hysteresis can be characterized by the turning and displacement times; turning time refers to the abrupt gradient change of current-time curve while displacement time is the time for one solution to completely displace the other solution. Both experimental and simulation results illustrate that the turning and displacement times for a particular solution pair can be directional-dependent, indicating that the flow conditions in the microchannel are not the same in the two different flow directions. The mechanics of EOF hysteresis was elucidated through the theoretical model which includes the ionic mobility of each species, a major governing parameter. Two distinct mechanics have been identified as the causes for the EOF hysteresis involving dissimilar ionic solutions: the widening/sharpening effect of interfacial region between the two solutions and the difference in ion concentration distributions (and thus average zeta potentials) in different flow directions. The outcome of this investigation contributes to the fundamental understanding of flow behavior in microfluidic systems involving solution pair with dissimilar ionic species.