Electroosmotic thrusters in soft nanochannels for space propulsion

Zheng, Jiaxuan; Jian, Yongjun

doi:10.1063/5.0033436

Cited by 11 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Kinetic energy and energy dissipation items containing Joule heating, viscous dissipation, as well as wall sliding friction are presented and discussed in this research. Compared to the electroosmotic thrusters with the walls of low grafting density polyelectrolyte material [ 35 ], electroosmotic thrusters (EOTs) of the present study better show the thrust capacity and thruster efficiency in the soft channel at high grafting densities, meanwhile maintaining a not-bad thrust-to-power ratio.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…For a steady, fully developed flow, the velocity fields of the thruster can be obtained in the soft nanochannel. We only take into account pure electroosmotic flows without the pressure influence in the thruster [ 17 , 18 , 35 , 45 , 50 ]. For inertia-free and unidirectional flow situations, the electrostatic driving force only balances with the viscous force in the momentum equation.…”

Section: Mathematical Model Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thruster-specific impulse, I sp , is defined as the propellant exhaust velocity divided by the gravitational acceleration constant [ 54 ]. In the electrolyte solution layer, the exhaust velocity is viewed as the average flow speed [ 17 , 18 , 35 ]. In dense PEL, the velocity is the superficial averaged velocity in the research [ 51 ].…”

Section: Thruster Performance Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The active controls of the Donnan potential and electrokinetic flow could be regulated, as by Benson et al [ 34 ], in a soft nanochannel with a polyelectrolyte brush layer. Recently, Zheng and Jian [ 35 ] executed the space electroosmotic thrusters (EOTs) in a soft nanochannel, but they only considered weak grafting density of the polyelectrolyte layer, which offers a special situation of identical permittivity and viscosity both outside and inside the PEL. Hence, the effect of dense polyelectrolyte materials on space electroosmotic thrusters is focused on in this article, so that model results can be closer to reality than those of previous research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, we theoretically investigate the performances of the space electroosmotic thrusters through a soft nanochannel with the dense polyelectrolyte layer. The research is an extension of soft channel influences on electroosmotic thrusters [ 35 ], and mainly presents some changes or improvements of EOT performances in ion partitioning soft nanochannels. That is to say, this is an issue about the soft channel of the thruster from the weak PEL to the dense PEL.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space Electroosmotic Thrusters in Ion Partitioning Soft Nanochannels

Zheng

Jian

2021

Micromachines

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Space electroosmotic thrusters (EOTs) are theoretically investigated in a soft charged nanochannel with a dense polyelectrolyte layer (PEL), which is considered to be more realistic than a low-density PEL. When the PEL is dense, its permittivity is smaller than the one of the electrolyte solution layer, leading to rearrangement of ions in the channel, which is denoted as the ion partitioning effect. It is noted that fluid viscosity becomes high within the PEL owing to the hydration effect. An analytical solution for electroosmotic velocity through the channel is obtained by utilizing the Debye–Hückel linearization assumption. Based on the fluid motion, thruster performances, including thrust, specific impulse, thrust-to-power ratio, and efficiency, are calculated. The ion partitioning effect leads to enhancement of the thruster velocity, while increase of the dynamic viscosity inside the PEL reduces the flow rate of the fluid. Therefore, these performances are further impacted by the dense soft material, which are discussed in detail. Moreover, changes or improvements of the thruster performances from the dense PEL to the weak PEL are presented and compared, and distributions of various energy items are also provided in this study. There is a good result whereby the increase in electric double layer thickness promotes the development of thruster performances. Ultimately, the simulated EOTs produce thrust of about 0 to 20 μN and achieve thruster efficiency of 90.40%, while maintaining an appropriate thrust–power ratio of about 1.53 mN/W by optimizing all design parameters.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Mathematical Model Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Thruster Performance Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space Electroosmotic Thrusters in Ion Partitioning Soft Nanochannels

Zheng

Jian

2021

Micromachines

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A deterministic model for bubble propagation through simple and cascaded loops of microchannels in power-law fluids

2021

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This paper investigates the path selection of bubbles suspended in different power-law carrier liquids in microfluidic channel networks. A finite volume-based numerical method is used to analyze the two-dimensional incompressible fluid flow in microchannels, while the volume of fluid method is used to capture the gas–liquid interface. To instill the influences of shear thinning, Newtonian, and shear-thickening fluids, the range of power-law indices (n) is varied from 0.3 to 1.5. We have validated our numerical model with the available literature data in good agreement. We have investigated the nonlinearity in the hydrodynamic resistance which arises due to single-phase non-Newtonian fluid flow. The path selection of a bubble in power-law fluids is examined from the perspective of velocity distribution and bubble deformation. We have found that the bubble indeed goes to the channel with a higher flow rate for all power-law fluids, but interestingly it did not always take the shorter route channel at a junction for n = 0.3. Our results suggest that long channels need not be more resistant for every fluid and that the longest arm becomes the least resistant resulting in the bubble leading into the long arm at a junction for shear-thinning fluid. We have proposed a deterministic model that enables predicting the second bubble path in a single bubble system for any location of the first bubble. We believe that the present study results will help design future generation microfluidic systems for efficient drug delivery and biomedical and biochemical applications.

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Effect of ion partitioning on an oscillatory electro-osmotic flow on solute transport process of fractional Jeffrey fluid through polyelectrolyte-coated nanopore with reversible wall reaction

2022

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The ion-partitioning effects on solute transport phenomena of time-periodic electro-osmotic flow in fractional Jeffrey fluid are investigated through a polyelectrolyte layer (PEL)-coated conical nanopore within a reactive wall whose ends are connected with two large reservoirs. By considering the ion-partitioning effects, analytical solutions for the induced potential and the axial velocity are presented, respectively, from the modified Poisson–Boltzmann equation and the Cauchy momentum equation with the proper constitutive equation of the fractional Jeffrey fluid model in the exterior and interior of the PEL. The analytic solution of the convection–diffusion for solute transport is established in the entire domain. The influence of the oscillating Reynolds number Rew, permittivity ratio εr between two mediums, relaxation time [Formula: see text], retardation time [Formula: see text], phase partitioning coefficient σp, PEL fixed charge density qfix, Debye–Hückel parameter κa, and softness parameter λs are investigated in this study. Asymptotic solution for the axial velocity was also presented for low-oscillating Reynolds numbers and validated. The maximum axial velocity occurs when the permittivity between the PEL and electrolyte is the same for all models. The volumetric flow rate decreases with the increase in the PEL thickness, positive PEL charge density, and softness parameter in our study. The volume flow rate of the Newtonian fluid increased 24.07% for Maxwell fluid ([Formula: see text], α = 1) and 11.56% for Jeffrey fluid ([Formula: see text], α = 1, and [Formula: see text]), when [Formula: see text], Rew = 10, qfix = 5, d = 0.2, [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]. The mass transport rate increases with relaxation time, tidal displacement, and permittivity ratio between these layers.

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Electroosmotic thrusters in soft nanochannels for space propulsion

Cited by 11 publications

References 84 publications

Space Electroosmotic Thrusters in Ion Partitioning Soft Nanochannels

Space Electroosmotic Thrusters in Ion Partitioning Soft Nanochannels

A deterministic model for bubble propagation through simple and cascaded loops of microchannels in power-law fluids

Effect of ion partitioning on an oscillatory electro-osmotic flow on solute transport process of fractional Jeffrey fluid through polyelectrolyte-coated nanopore with reversible wall reaction

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