Development of an Electroosmotic Pump Using Nanosilica Particle Packed Capillary

High-pressure electroosmotic pumps (EOPs) operate on the principle that electroosmotic flow (EOF) can be generated through a packed-bed capillary by applying an electric field through it. In this paper, a novel packed-bed EOP design using nanosilica particles is described. The packed-bed capillary was fabricated using a capillary of 5 cm x 530 mum i.d. close packed with silica particles having an average particle size of 20-30 nm. The flow rates, pressures and pressure/flow rate (P-Q)characteristics, electric properties of the pump and the influence of phosphate buffer concentration on the pump were carefully studied. By increasing the pressure, decreasing the applied voltage, and the electric current, the thermodynamic efficiency was about 1%-2% for inorganic buffers and 3%-5% for organic solvents or their mixture without ions.