A numerical and analytical approach for calculating electrowetting force via droplet positioning method

Electrowetting is one of the most feasible methods for manipulating low-volume droplets on lab-on-a-chip systems. Finding the applied electrowetting force on a droplet and its comparison with movement resistive forces could be very useful in predicting the efficiency of an electrowetting actuator. I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Indian journal of physics 2024, Vol.98 (9), p.3267-3275
Main Authors: Ghaffari, A., Hojjat, Y., Shirkosh, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actuators
Astrophysics and Astroparticles
Droplets
Exact solutions
Finite element method
Original Paper
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
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Summary:Electrowetting is one of the most feasible methods for manipulating low-volume droplets on lab-on-a-chip systems. Finding the applied electrowetting force on a droplet and its comparison with movement resistive forces could be very useful in predicting the efficiency of an electrowetting actuator. In this study, the electrowetting force was calculated as a function of droplet position with the aid of analytical way and finite element method (FEM) at different applied voltages. In order to evaluate the results, a coplanar electrowetting actuator with SU-8 dielectric layer was fabricated. Then, an accurate droplet positioning system was utilized and one droplet (10 µl) was positioned on a specific point of the actuator to assess the ability of electrowetting force to overcome the resistive forces. This process was repeated for various points along the workspace of the actuator at different voltages. The experimental results indicated that the errors of FEM and analytical solution in predicting the least moveable voltage was 14%.
ISSN:0973-1458
0974-9845
DOI:10.1007/s12648-023-03054-7