title: Microelectrokinetic turbulence in microfluidics at low Reynolds number.
abstract: There is commonly no turbulence in microfluidics, and the flows are believed to be either laminar or chaotic, since Reynolds number (Re) in microflows is usually on the order of unity or lower. However, we recently demonstrated that it is possible to achieve turbulence with low Re (based on the measured flow velocity and the width of the channel entrance) when a pressure-driven flow is electrokinetically forced in a quasi T-microchannel. To be able to measure high frequency velocity fluctuations in microchannels, a velocimeter with submicrometer spatial resolution and microsecond temporal resolution, called a laser-induced fluorescence photobleaching anemometer, is developed. Here we characterize the microelectrokinetic turbulence and observe some typical and important features of high Re flows, such as Kolmogorov -5/3 spectrum of velocity fluctuation, which usually can be realized only at very high Re in macroturbulent flows.
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.|Biomedical Engineering Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.
authors: Guiren
authors: G
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.
authors: Fang
authors: F
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, USA.|Institute of Photonics and Photo-technology, International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Photoelectric Technology and Functional Materials and Application, Northwest University, 229 North Taibai Rd, Xi'an 710069, People's Republic of China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D019793:Fluorescein; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007700:Kinetics; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D044085:Microfluidics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009038:Motion; D011312:Pressure; D012996:Solutions; D055672:Static Electricity; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012996:Solutions; D014867:Water; D019793:Fluorescein