Journal article
Electrophoretically mediated partial coalescence of a charged microdrop
R Pillai, JD Berry, DJE Harvie, MR Davidson
Chemical Engineering Science | Published : 2017
Abstract
Coalescence of charged drops in the presence of an electric field has practical applications in microscale lab-on-a-chip devices. Existing studies have focused on macrodrops, but electrophoretic charge behavior differs for microdrops due to the increased thickness of diffuse charge layers relative to drop dimensions. An electrokinetic model is used in this study to numerically investigate the charge transfer dynamics, for the problem of charged microdrop coalescence with an electroneutral bulk liquid. In particular, the focus is on the transition from complete to partial coalescence, and the study of residual droplet formation during partial coalescence. It is found that the increasing drop ..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
This paper is an extension of a conference paper (Pillai et al., 2015b) that was presented at the Eleventh International Conference on CFD in the Minerals and Process Industries (CFD2015), and was nominated for submission to Chemical Engineering Science based on its designation as a high-quality paper of relevance to chemical engineering. One of the authors (RP) acknowledges the support of a Melbourne International Research Scholarship during the completion of this work.