Electrokinetic pump having capacitive electrodes
First Claim
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1. An electrokinetic system, comprising:
- an electrokinetic device including a pair of electrodes, and a porous dielectric material between the electrodes, wherein each electrode of the pair of electrodes comprises a material having a capacitance of at least 10−
4 Farads per square centimeter;
a liquid in the elecktrokinetic device between the pair of electrodes;
a power supply; and
a controller, the controller programmed to;
(a) apply a positive current from the power supply to the electrodes to charge the capacitance of the electrodes and to move the liquid through the porous dielectric material in a first direction;
(b) stop applying the positive current applied by the power supply to the electrodes prior to reaching a threshold voltage for a Faradaic process in the liquid; and
(c) apply a negative current from the power supply to the electrodes to move the liquid through the porous dielectric material in a second direction that is opposite to the first directions.
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Abstract
An electrokinetic pump achieves high and low flow rates without producing significant gaseous byproducts and without significant evolution of the pump fluid. A first feature of the pump is that the electrodes in the pump are capacitive with a capacitance of at least 10−4 Farads/cm2. A second feature of the pump is that it is configured to maximize the potential across the porous dielectric material. The pump can have either or both features.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. An electrokinetic system, comprising:
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an electrokinetic device including a pair of electrodes, and a porous dielectric material between the electrodes, wherein each electrode of the pair of electrodes comprises a material having a capacitance of at least 10−
4 Farads per square centimeter;a liquid in the elecktrokinetic device between the pair of electrodes; a power supply; and a controller, the controller programmed to; (a) apply a positive current from the power supply to the electrodes to charge the capacitance of the electrodes and to move the liquid through the porous dielectric material in a first direction; (b) stop applying the positive current applied by the power supply to the electrodes prior to reaching a threshold voltage for a Faradaic process in the liquid; and (c) apply a negative current from the power supply to the electrodes to move the liquid through the porous dielectric material in a second direction that is opposite to the first directions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An electrokinetic system, comprising:
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an electrokinetic device including a pair of electrodes, and a porous dielectric material between the electrodes, wherein each electrode of the pair of electrodes comprises a material having a capacitance of at least 10−
4 Farads per square centimeter;a liquid in the electrokinetic device between the pair of electrodes; a power supply; and a controller, the controller programmed to; (a) apply a current from the power supply sufficient to move the liquid; and (b) stop applying the current from the power supply before a solvent electrolysis process starts in the liquid. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification