The effect of asymmetric zeta potentials on the electro-osmotic flow of a generalized Phan–Thien–Tanner fluid

Abstract

Electrokinetic flows driven by electro-osmotic forces are especially relevant in micro and nano-devices, presenting specific applications in medicine, biochemistry, and miniaturized industrial processes. In this work, we integrate analytical solutions with numerical methodologies to explore the fluid dynamics of viscoelastic electro-osmotic/pressure-driven fluid flows (described by the generalized Phan–Thien–Tanner (gPTT) constitutive equation) in a microchannel under asymmetric zeta potential conditions. The constitutive equation incorporates the Mittag–Leffler function with two parameters ($$\alpha $$ α and $$\beta $$ β ), which regulate the rate of destruction of junctions in a network model. We analyze the impact of the various model parameters on the velocity profile and observe that our newly proposed model provides a more comprehensive depiction of flow behavior compared to traditional models, rendering it suitable for modeling complex viscoelastic flows.