Research Projects

The research aims to explore the ion transport and secondary electroosmotic flow (EOF) phenomena of Newtonian/non-Newtonian fluids in conical micro conduits with non-uniformly charged conductive surfaces. The study will focus on treating asymmetries in hydrophobic conical channels and slip and no-slip boundary conditions to overcome challenges in fluid flow phenomena in organ-on-a-chip (OOC) devices. Analytical and numerical investigations will be conducted to understand and control sample transport adjacent to rough or structured surfaces in small scales. The study uses a mathematical model based on the Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Navier-Stokes equations to characterize flow phenomena. However, the model relies on assumptions such as ignoring the finite size of ions, constant permittivity and viscosity, and non-Coulombic interaction between ions and charged surfaces. This results in unstable fluid-structure interaction in nanopores due to nonlinear flow instability. A rigorous theoretical study is required to probe the effects of conical structures or roughness for hydrodynamic slips. The study also addresses the question of slip models for measuring unphysically considerable slip lengths and deviations near contact separations.