title: AC electric field induced droplet deformation in a microfluidic T-junction.
abstract: We present for the first time an experimental study on the droplet deformation induced by an AC electric field in droplet-based microfluidics. It is found that the deformation of the droplets becomes stronger with increasing electric field intensity and frequency. The measured electric field intensity dependence of the droplet deformation is consistent with an early theoretical prediction for stationary droplets. We also proposed a simple equivalent circuit model to account for the frequency dependence of the droplet deformation. The model well explains our experimental observations. In addition, we found that the droplets can be deformed repeatedly by applying an amplitude modulation (AM) signal.
authors.affiliation: School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Rd, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Heng-Dong
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: School of Aeronautics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Youyi Rd, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: University of Duisburg-Essen, University Street 2, Essen 45117, Germany and Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road QLD 4111, Brisbane, Australia. sayhwa.tan@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leniart
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798 Singapore.
authors.forename: Zhuang Zhi
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road QLD 4111, Brisbane, Australia. sayhwa.tan@griffith.edu.au.
authors.forename: Say Hwa
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tan