Electro-flow focusing: the high-conductivity low-viscosity limit.
Electro-flow focusing, a technique combining the features of electrospray (ES) and flow focusing (FF), provides a reliable tool to reach parametrical microjetting ranges not attainable by ES or FF alone under specific operational regimes (liquid properties and flow rate). In this Letter, we provide not only a closed theoretical model predicting the diameter of a high electrical conductivity electro-flow focused liquid microjet, but also its convective or absolute instability, linked to the jetting-to-dripping transition and the minimum liquid flow rate that can be ejected in steady jetting regime, in which the smallest droplets are issued. Good agreement is found with experimental values.
Gañán-Calvo
Alfonso M
AM
Escuela Superior de Ingenieros, Universidad de Sevilla, Camino de los Descubrimientos, 41092 Seville, Spain. amgc@us.es