ac electro-osmotic micropump by asymmetric electrode polarization

ac electro-osmosis (ACEO) has emerged recently as a promising strategy for fluid transport at microscale. With an array of planar interdigital electrodes immersed in an electrolyte, different charging mechanisms at electrode∕electrolyte interface and electrokinetic surface flows can be induced by nonuniform electrical fields. To implement ACEO micropump, asymmetry in an electrode pair is essential to generate net flow, which has been typically achieved through asymmetric electrode geometries. This work proposes asymmetric electrode polarization processes to break the electrode symmetry. A dc bias is superimposed onto ac potentials, so that the two electrodes in a pair undergo capacitive charging or Faradaic charging separately. Applying such signals, pumping action has been demonstrated with only a few volts of applied voltage and a power consumption in the range of milliwatts. Pumping velocity by asymmetric electrode polarization exhibits an exponential dependency on voltage.