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Numerical simulation of a novel microfluidic electroosmotic micromixer with Cantor fractal structure

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Abstract

In this paper, we design a novel low voltage of electroosmotic micromixer with fractal structure. Because of the influence of high voltage on electrode and solution, we propose an electroosmotic micromixer of low voltage. In order to optimize the electrode position, we design the Cantor fractal according to Cantor principle, and arrange the electrode pairs on the fractal. Then we study the mixing effect of the electrode pairs length on the mixing performance, the effect of the electrode position and the effect of fractal electrode group spacing on the mixing efficiency. When the electroosmotic micromixer has three electrode groups at alternating voltage of 5 V and alternating frequency of 8 Hz, the best mixing efficiency can reach 95.2% in one second. We call this micromixer Cantor fractal electroosmotic micromixer (CFEM). At the same Re, the mixing efficiency of CFEM is higher than the electrodeless micromixer 50%.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Key Project of Department of Education of Liaoning Province (JZL201715401), Liaoning Province BaiQianWan Talent Project. We sincerely thank Prof. Chong Liu for his kind guidance.

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  1. Faculty of Mechanical Engineer and Automation, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou, 121001, China

    Zeyang Wu & Xueye Chen

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  1. Zeyang Wu
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  2. Xueye Chen
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Correspondence to Xueye Chen.

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Wu, Z., Chen, X. Numerical simulation of a novel microfluidic electroosmotic micromixer with Cantor fractal structure. Microsyst Technol 25, 3157–3164 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-019-04311-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-019-04311-8

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