Micro Flow Direction Analysis Using Gold Sputtered Planar V-Shaped Electrode Pattern

Abstract

Sensing and detecting micro particles require a bulk fluid motion towards the sensing element in order to get a desirable response from the sensing element. Specially for low-concentrated fluid suspension response time is very long. So both for detection and sensing mechanism if the fluid flow is guided at a reasonable speed and at a low voltage and relatively low frequency which is suitable for bio-particles; the sensing mechanism can be enhanced largely. But sometimes it is required to re-accumulate or recombine the fluid. Previously parallel plate configuration was used to concentrate particle, but this is for the first time a V-shaped electrode pattern used to guide the bulk flow for concentration purpose. The V-shaped electrode set-up was made by following an unconventional way using sputtering machine which was cheaper than the conventional Photolithography method. AC-Electroosmosis from planar electrodes is a strong mechanism for creating micro-flows from several hundred microns away from the electrode surface. The mechanism for the AC Electroosmotic fluid flow is based on Capacitive charging which causes due to the generation of counter-ions at the electrode-electrolyte interface and Faradaic charging which is generated by the accumulation of co-ions. These two different methods are responsible for a converging and diverging surface flow of the fluid particles. At lower voltage capacitive charging method plays a significant role and most of the applied voltage drops occur at the electrical double layer but up to a certain voltage level Faradaic charging method takes over and starts dominating. The induced flow velocity by both methods has different relationship with the applied voltage. In this experiment Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used to determine the suitable frequency range for the application & 2.12Vrms was used initially which is a very low voltage. An equivalent circuit for the setup was analyzed. Finally, an analysis was made on this setup using conductive fluid to observe the AC Electrothermal (ACET) effect. In our experiment the goal was to get an optimum velocity for concentration at low voltage and low frequency also to observe the guiding direction of the fluid flow in order to find a way to focus the fluid flow towards the desired direction.