Jun Yang et al 2003 J. Micromech. Microeng. 13 963 doi:10.1088/0960-1317/13/6/320
Jun Yang, Fuzhi Lu, Larry W Kostiuk and Daniel Y Kwok
Show affiliationsPressure-driven flow in a microchannel induces a streaming current due to the presence of an electrical double layer in the interface between the electrolyte solution and channel wall. As the streaming current is of the order of a nano-amphere and is additive, we propose here a method to develop an electrokinetic battery consisting of an array of microchannels that converts the hydrostatic pressure of a liquid into electrical work. We have given oscillating analytical solutions by means of an electrical circuit analysis to model the multi-microchannel battery. Using superposition of the appropriate Fourier series, the derived analytical solutions are useful to predict the current when there is more general time-dependent flow through a microchannel array. To illustrate the idea, we have studied steady-state pressure-driven flow in micropore porous glass filter and compared the results with those predicted from our model. From a 30 cm hydrostatic pressure drop, an external current of 1–2 µA was obtained by means of water passing through the micropore porous glass filter. A larger current can be obtained by simply using a solution with higher salt concentration. This results in a new and potentially useful method of energy conversion by means of an array of microchannels.
85.85.+j Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) and devices
47.56.+r Flows through porous media
Issue 6 (November 2003)
Received 23 April 2003, in final form 25 June 2003
Published 20 October 2003
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