A new design of electro-conjugate fluid micropumps with Venturi and teardrop-shaped electrodes

This paper presents a newly designed non-mechanical electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) micropump with a Venturi-shaped collector and teardrop-shaped emitter (VD-ECF micropump). The numerical model using the finite element method was thoroughly validated by comparing it with both experimental data and numerical results. Consequently, the characteristic curves of the VD-ECF micropump are significantly affected by both the emitter angle (θ1) and the collector angle (θ2). The effects of these angles on the flow behaviors in a VD-ECF micropump were first explained. Furthermore, the performance characteristic curves were elaborately constructed for various operating conditions. The operating ranges of pressure difference and flow rate of the VD-ECF micropump are extended, and they peak at θ2 approximately from 25° to 30°. Additionally, the maximum efficiency reaches up to 10%, which is the highest figure recorded to date. The obtained results for the new VD-ECF micropump would significantly contribute to the development of ECF micropumps with precise control. Our work also gives valuable guidelines for designing and manufacturing processes of this type of micropump, which has potential applications in microelectronic cooling systems, micro-actuators, and drug transport mechanisms in medical and biomedical fields.