Electroosmotic Flow of Viscoelastic Fluid in a Nanochannel Connecting Two Reservoirs.

ABSTRACT

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) of viscoelastic fluid with Linear Phan-Thien-Tanner (LPTT) constitutive model in a nanochannel connecting two reservoirs is numerically studied. For the first time, the influence of viscoelasticity on the EOF and the ionic conductance in the micro-nanofluidic interconnect system, with consideration of the electrical double layers (EDLs), is investigated. Regardless of the bulk salt concentration, significant enhancement of the flow rate is observed for viscoelastic fluid compared to the Newtonian fluid, due to the shear thinning effect. An increase in the ionic conductance of the nanochannel occurs for the viscoelastic fluid. The enhancement of the ionic conductance is significant under the overlapping EDLs condition.