Rotary pump using underwater electrical discharge

Abstract

Powerful micropumps and water treatment are essential for biomedical applications using microfluidic circuits. Therefore, we propose a rotary pump using underwater electrical discharge for biomedical applications and elucidate its design concept. Specifically, we demonstrate that by applying high-voltage pulses repeatedly, the rotary device having an asymmetrical antenna structure can rotate with the maximum angular velocity of ∼25 rad s−1, and can produce a net flow with an average velocity of ∼3.2 mm s−1 along with an instantaneous maximum flow of ∼9 mm s−1. In addition, we explain our experimental results fairly well by proposing a simple model that considers the effects of asymmetricity and electric field strength with a steric effect. Our findings should contribute to the microfluidics for biomedical applications.