Dynamics of Electrically Actuated Carreau Fluid Flow in a Surface-Modulated Microchannel

The flow and mass transfer characteristics of an electroosmotic flow of Carreau fluid through a surface-modulated microchannel are presented. Flow is considered to be influenced by the coupling effect of both the externally applied electric field and heterogeneous zeta potential. The constitutive rheological behavior of the Carreau fluid is incorporated with the Nernst–Planck-Navier–Stokes-based flow governing equations to obtain the flow variation and species distribution depending on the behavior of the fluid properties. Moreover, the variation of electric double-layer thickness and the zeta potential provides a complex flow phenomenon, which can be beneficial for mixing enhancement. The results indicate the practical application of electroosmotic flow over heterogeneous patched surfaces observed in the lab-on-a-chip device used in Bio-MEMS and can handle inhomogeneous surface conduction and geometric interfacial disorder.