Electrokinetic flows

Electrokinetic flows are fluid motions generated or influenced by electric fields acting on charged interfaces or particles. They include electro-osmosis, electrophoresis, and related transport phenomena.

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Electric double layer: A structured region of counterions and co-ions that forms near a charged surface in an electrolyte. Its mobile charge supplies the force that drives fluid near charged boundaries.
Electrolyte: A substance that produces mobile ions when dissolved or molten, allowing the material to conduct electricity. Mobile ions carry charge through the liquids in most electrokinetic systems.
Electroosmotic flow in microchannels: Electric-field-driven liquid motion through narrow channels with charged walls. Microchannels use electro-osmosis to move liquids without mechanical pumps.
Pressure-driven flow: Fluid motion caused by a pressure gradient rather than direct electrical forcing. It is the common mechanical alternative to electrically driven pumping.
Electro-osmosis: Fluid motion relative to a charged surface, driven by an applied electric field acting on the interfacial ion layer. It is the central surface-driven flow within electrokinetics.
Surface charge: An excess or deficit of electric charge localized at a material boundary. It establishes the interfacial fields and counterion distributions central to electrokinetics.
Capillary electrophoresis: An analytical separation technique that moves charged species through a narrow capillary under an electric field. It exploits electrophoretic mobility and electro-osmotic flow to separate molecules.
Dielectrophoresis: The motion of polarizable particles in a nonuniform electric field, even when they carry no net charge. It moves particles through field gradients rather than requiring electrophoretic charge.
Electrophoresis: The motion of charged particles relative to a fluid under an applied electric field. It describes particle transport coupled to the surrounding fluid.
Debye length: A characteristic distance over which mobile charges screen an electric field in an electrolyte. It sets the thickness scale of the interfacial charge layer.