Alternating current electrothermal modulated moving contact line dynamics of immiscible binary fluids over patterned surfaces

Abstract

In this paper, we report the results of our numerical study on incompressible flow of a binary system of two immiscible fluids in a parallel plate capillary using alternating current electrothermal kinetics as the actuation mechanism for flow. The surfaces of the capillary are wetted with two different alternating wettability patches. The dynamic motion of the interface of the two fluids is tracked using a phase-field order parameter-based approach. The results exhibit a stick-slip behavior involving acceleration and deceleration of the interface due to the interplay of electrothermal (Coulomb and dielectric) and surface tension forces. Controlling the interface motion through effective tuning of the chemical characteristics of the surfaces and forcing parameters was explored in detail. Finally, we were able to find a critical value of the dimensionless strength of the alternating current electrothermal force above which the interface “breaks”, resulting in the formation of isolated droplets. These results have the potential to improve fundamental understanding and design optimization of various biomedical and physiological systems that involve flow of two or more immiscible fluids over chemically wetted surfaces.