Date of Award:

5-2015

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Heng Ban

Committee

Heng Ban

Committee

Steve L. Folkman

Committee

Barton Smith

Committee

David W. Britt

Committee

Robert E. Spall

Abstract

This research is a theoretical study aiming to improve the understanding of nanofluidic flows. Nanofluidic flows have a wide range of potential application in many fields, such as DNA analysis, drug delivery, analyte separation, power generation, and so on. The most common material used in nanofluidic flows is silica whose surfaces are charged mainly due to proton exchange with the fluids. Charges on the surfaces as well as near the surfaces in the fluid side cause a significantly different response of the fluids to the applied electric field or pressure difference compared to those at normal scale. In the previous studies, surface charges were usually assumed to be constant without further proton exchange, or the fluids were motionless. This study theoretically investigated the flow through a nanochannel with the consideration of dynamic proton exchange. The results show that dynamic proton exchange has significant but slow influence on nanofluidics flows. This study improves the fundamental understanding for nanofluidic flows.

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