Effect of AC electric field in mass transport of a neutral solute in a microtube with porous wall

Abstract

Electroosmotic flow actuation is one the most active research area in microfluidics. The advantages of microfluidic systems with porous walls are improvement of heat and mass transport, selective separation of solutes and tailored drug delivery. The novelty of this work is investigating impact of electroosmotic flow under AC electric field on mass transport of neutral solute through porous walled microtube. Higher frequency (522 kHz) makes the velocity field stagnant for 80 % of tube cross-section leading better permeation. Effect of frequency is marginal on permeation flux but is significant for permeate concentration. At pseudo-steady state, Sherwood number approaches 2.5 irrespective of operating conditions. It is observed that solute permeation flux increases 13 % by manipulating frequency compared to DC field. The optimum frequency for solute delivery increases with Re.Sc.d/L. The findings of this study helps in better understanding of tailored drug delivery by microfluidic channels and nutrient transport in physiological systems.