Electroosmotically driven capillary transport of typical non-Newtonian biofluids in rectangular microchannels

Abstract

In this paper, a detailed theoretical model is developed for studying the capillary filling dynamics of a non-Newtonian power-law obeying fluid in a microchannel subject to electrokinetic effects. Special attention is devoted to model the effects of the electroosmotic influences in the capillary advancement process, variable resistive forces acting over different flow regimes, and the dynamically evolving contact line forces, in mathematically closed forms. As an illustrative case study, in which the flow parameters are modeled as functions of the hematocrit fraction in the sample, the capillary dynamics of a blood sample are analyzed. Flow characteristics depicting advancement of the fluid within the microfluidic channel turn out to be typically non-linear, as per the relative instantaneous strengths of the capillary forces, electroosmotic forces and viscous resistances. Non-trivial implications of the blood hematocrit level and the imposed electric field on the progression of the capillary front are highlighted, which are expected to be of significant consequence towards the dynamics of electroosmotically aided capillary filling processes of biofluidic samples.