Electrokinetic insect-bioinspired membrane pumping in a high aspect ratio bio-microfluidic system

Narla, VK; Tripathi, D; Bhandari, DS; Beg, OA

Abstract

Microscale flows utilizing stimulus-responsive working fluids are finding
increasing applications in emerging areas in mechanical, biological and
chemical engineering. Motivated by such applications, in the present article, an analytical study of the electrokinetic effect on insect bio-inspired
rhythmic pumping is conducted for a high aspect ratio micro-tube.
The membrane attached to the wall performs periodic compression
and expansion phases during the complete contraction cycle. Thus,
the micro-pump transports the fluid owing to wall deformation by
virtue of membrane kinematics. Electroosmotic phenomena are simulated with the Poisson-Boltzmann equation. The impact of the membrane
shape parameter is retained in the model. The effects of HelmholtzSmoluchowski velocity (UHS) and reciprocal of electrical double layer
thickness (κ) on the pressure distribution, radial and axial velocity
distribution, volumetric flow rate pumping characteristic, wall shear
stress, and vector field streamline patterns are visualized graphically
and interpreted the physical significance. The simulations show that volumetric flow rate and wall shear stress are elevated for thinner
EDL. A boost in wall shear stress accompanies an increment in positive UHS in the vicinity of the membrane. The magnitude of the
axial velocity is positive for UHS = −1 (positive direction of axial
electrical field) whereas negative values are computed for UHS = 1
(reversed direction of axial electrical field). The present analysis furnishes some novel insights into membrane-based pumping mechanisms
in electroosmotic microfluidics devices relevant to the manipulation of
microscale internal flow in bio-medicine, soft robotics and other areas.

Citation

Narla, V., Tripathi, D., Bhandari, D., & Beg, O. (2022). Electrokinetic insect-bioinspired membrane pumping in a high aspect ratio bio-microfluidic system. Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 26(85), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-022-02588-2

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 2, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 3, 2022
• Publication Date: Oct 3, 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 14, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 4, 2023
• Journal: Microfluidics and Nanofluidics
• Print ISSN: 1613-4982
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 85
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-022-02588-2
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-022-02588-2
• Additional Information: Funders : Research Seed Grants (RSG) provided by Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) Deemed to be University, Hyderabad, India; Projects : Bio-inspired membrane pumping electro-fluid dynamics simulation; Grant Number: F.No. 2021/0039