Electrokinetic instability near charge-selective hydrophobic surfaces

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2014 Jul;90(1):013001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.90.013001. Epub 2014 Jul 3.

Abstract

The influence of the texture of a hydrophobic surface on the electro-osmotic slip of the second kind and the electrokinetic instability near charge selective surfaces (permselective membranes, electrodes, or systems of microchannels and nanochannels) is investigated theoretically using a simple model based on the Rubinstein-Zaltzman approach. A simple formula is derived to evaluate the decrease in the instability threshold due to hydrophobicity. The study is complemented by numerical investigations both of linear and nonlinear instabilities near a hydrophobic membrane surface. Theory predicts a significant enhancement of the ion flux to the surface and shows a good qualitative agreement with the available experimental data.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electricity*
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Motion*
  • Surface Properties