A Comprehensive Study on Improving the Electrohydrodynamic Performance of Electroconjugate Fluid Micropumps Using Hydrodynamic-Shaped Electrodes

Abstract A novel design of an electroconjugate fluid (ECF) micropump with hydrodynamic-shaped electrodes was proposed in this study. The finite element method was employed to comprehensively investigate the dynamic behavior of ECF flow in this micropump under various conditions, including electrode types, applied voltage (Ve), the anode–cathode distance (Lc*), the slit width (Ws*), and the cathode width (Wn*). Consequently, the ECF micropump's operating range and efficiency are significantly improved using a hydrodynamic-shaped electrode compared to conventional electrodes. Furthermore, this study first proposes a generalized correlation to effectively predict the maximum pressure difference, revealing that it obeys the quadratic law of Ve. The performance curves of the novel ECF micropump under the effects of various designed parameters are elaborately constructed. Based on an extensive study, the optimum range of these parameters is proposed as 2.85 ≤ Lc* ≤ 3.15, 1.71 ≤ Ws* ≤ 1.89, and 3.33 ≤ Wn* ≤ 3.68. Particularly, the remarkable efficiency is up to 30%. This significant improvement addresses the historically low efficiency of the ECF micropump, opening up new possibilities for its application in industries demanding high performance and efficient fluid control systems.