Effects of Nanostructured Surfaces on Electro-osmotic Flow

Abstract

Electro-osmotic flow (EOF) is the flow of fluid in a microchannel which is induced by an external elec-tric field. EOF originates from electrical double layer (EDL) formed spontaneously at the channel-fluid interface. The electrostatic potential at the channel wall is called the zeta potential. Nanostructures have been employed in microfluidic channels for electrophoretic separation of biomolecules [1] and catalytic reaction which yields higher reaction efficiency due to the increased surface area [2]. Howev-er, the effect of nanostructured surfaces on EOF has yet to be fully understood. In this preliminary investigation, we demonstrate experimentally that the presence of nanostructured surfaces affects EOF significantly.