Modeling of an AC-electro-osmosis based microfluidic mixer

The purpose of this study is presenting an active micromixer, which is based on AC electro-osmotic flow driven on 3D micro wires. In order to solve governing equations of AC electroosmosis, a commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics® is implemented. Different wire configurations with various imposed electric fields and flow rates are tested for evaluating mixing efficiencies. The analyses show that mixing performance is significantly improved by number of the wires as well as wire orientation. It is also revealed that the degree of mixing can also be controlled by the tuning of the applied voltage for a given flow rate. © 2017 ASME The American Society of Mechanical Engineers