Analytical Investigation of the Flow Hydrodynamics in Micro-Channels at High Zeta Potentials

This paper investigates the effect of the EDL at the solid-liquid interface on the liquid flow through a micro-channel formed by two parallel plates. The complete Poisson-Boltzmann equation (without the frequently used linear approximation) was solved analytically in order to determine the EDL field near the solid-liquid interface. The momentum equation was solved analytically taking into consideration the electrical body force resulting from the EDL field. Effects of the channel size and the strength of the zeta-potential on the electrostatic potential, the streaming potential, the velocity profile, the volume flow rate, and the apparent viscosity are presented and discussed. Results of the present analysis, which are based on the complete Poisson-Boltzmann equation, are compared with a simplified analysis that used a linear approximation of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation.