The microfluidic Kelvin water dropperElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3lc50832c
The so-called "Kelvin water dropper" is a simple experiment demonstrating the spontaneous appearance of induced free charge in droplets emitted through a tube. As Lord Kelvin explained, water droplets spontaneously acquire a net charge during detachment from a faucet due to the presence of...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Online Access: | Request full text |
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| Summary: | The so-called "Kelvin water dropper" is a simple experiment demonstrating the spontaneous appearance of induced free charge in droplets emitted through a tube. As Lord Kelvin explained, water droplets spontaneously acquire a net charge during detachment from a faucet due to the presence of electrical fields in their surroundings created by any metallic object. In his experiment, two streams of droplets are allowed to drip from separate nozzles into separate buckets, which are, at the same time, interconnected through the dripping needles. In this paper, we build a microfluidic water dropper and demonstrate that the droplets get charged and break up due to electrohydrodynamic instabilities. A comparison with recent simulations shows the dependence of the acquired charge in the droplets on different parameters of the system. The phenomenon opens a door to cheap and accessible transformation of pneumatic pressure into electrical energy and to an enhanced control in microfluidic and biophysical manipulation of capsules, cells and droplets
via
self-induced charging of the elements.
A microfluidic version of the famous Kelvin water dropper is presented in this communication. The droplets are created in a microfluidic cross junction and get electrically charged spontaneously until they reach the maximum amount of charge that they can support. |
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| ISSN: | 1473-0197 1473-0189 |