Multilayer Analysis of Phan-Thien-Tanner Immiscible Fluids Under Electro-Osmotic and Pressure-Driven Effects in a Slit Microchannel

Abstract

Because the pumping of samples by viscous drag forces and the use of flow-focusing for several sheath flows are widely used in microfluidic devices applications, the present investigation treats about the transport of multilayer immiscible viscoelastic fluids into a slit microchannel by electro-osmotic and pressure-driven effects. The mathematical formulation for the steady-state analysis of the flow field is based on the Poisson–Boltzmann equation and the Cauchy momentum equation. Each fluid layer has independent physical and electrical properties and is formed by a mixture of an electrolyte with a fluid that provides a viscoelastic behavior that follows the simplified Phan-Thien-Tanner (sPTT) rheological model. In the problem, the fluids are conductive and the walls of the microchannel are dielectrics, yielding electric double layers in the liquid–liquid and solid–liquid interfaces; therefore, the flow field is controlled by interfacial electrostatic conditions. The semi-analytical results are centered in the description of the velocity profiles and in the flowrate as a function of a series of dimensionless parameters arising from the mathematical modeling, where we can observe that the multilayer flow characteristics are related to the type of electrolyte solutions, since when the flow field is formed by two or more, interesting interfacial effects appear that modify the shape of velocity profiles and change the magnitude of flowrate in favor or against, depending of the positions of each fluid layer; in addition, the flow raises or diminishes by applying an external pressure gradient.