Numerical investigation of the combined effects of biomlecular adsorption and microdroplet evaporation on the performance of the electrocapillary-based digital microfluidic systems
Publication Type:
Conference ProceedingsSource:
Proceedings of ASME 2011 10th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels, ASME, Edmonton, AB, Canada (2011)Abstract:
In this article, microdroplet motion in the electrocapillary-
based digital microfluidic systems is modeled accurately, and
the combined effects of the biomolecular adsorption and micro-
droplet evaporation on the performance of the device are inves-
tigated. An electrohydrodynamic approach is used to model the
driving and resisting forces, and Fick’s law and Gibbs equation
are used to calculate the microdroplet evaporation and adsorp-
tion rate. Effects of the adsorption and evaporation rates are
then implemented into the microdroplet dynamics by adding new
terms into the force balance equation. It is shown that mass loss
due to the evaporation tends to increase the protein concentra-
tion, and on the other hand, the increased concentration due to
the mass loss increases the biomolecular adsorption rate which
has a reverse effect on the concentration. The modeling results
indicate that evaporation and adsorption play crucial roles in the
microdroplet dynamics.