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Cite this: Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 40334036

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High-power electrokinetic energy conversion in a glass microchannel

array
Abraham Mansouri,*a Subir Bhattacharjeeb and Larry Kostiukb
Received 7th May 2012, Accepted 10th August 2012
DOI: 10.1039/c2lc40525c

The electrokinetic conversion of flow work to electricity using a

glass microchannel array coated with nano-layers of gold that
serve as electrodes on both its ends was studied and a
maximum power output of 1 mW at an efficiency of 1.3% is
reported. The establishment of such a high power generation
capability in combination with a low pressure drop (26 kPa)
makes this electrokinetic work conversion device more practical
than those previously reported in literature.
Energy conversion devices to produce electricity from flow work
based on electrokinetic phenomena have been studied extensively
over the past five decades.15 Particularly, the study by Yang
et al.,5 whose results crossed over into the mainstream media,
revived interest in this old concept. The core principle underlying
such devices is creating a so-called streaming potential (SP)
difference across a charged porous medium. This is generated by a
pressure driven flow of a conducting fluid through the porous
medium.68 Provided the SP can be maintained while a current is
driven through an external electrical circuit, such a device may be
viewed as an electrical power source. Experimental studies in
literature report low-power (pW to mW) and low-efficiency (less
than 1%) values for these types of devices.5,911 To the authors
knowledge, the device designed, fabricated and tested in this study,
i.e., a gold-coated glass microchannel array (GMA) shown in
Fig. 1, is the first reported device to generate over 1 mW output,
which can be scaled to 0.21 mW cm22 of frontal area and
0.04 mW kPa21 at a flow rate of 12 cm3 s21. Besides the inherent
challenges with conduction current losses, a key bottleneck in
advancing the efficiency these devices operating in steady flow (i.e.,
DC power generation) originates from electrodes, in particular
their placement and polarization. In this communication, the
intent is to systematically study the role of electrode placement in
establishing the power generation efficiency of the device. A few
studies placed these electrodes at arbitrary distances from the
porous media.5,912 A secondary objective of this work is to shed
some light on the potential difficulties in making streaming current
(SC) measurements when using such devices.
a

Department of Mechanical Engineering, American University in Dubai,

P.O. Box 28282, UAE. E-mail: mansouri@ualberta.net;
Tel: +971 4 318 3407
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Canada

This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

A custom fabricated experimental apparatus as described in

Ref. 13 and shown in Fig. 1, was employed to characterize the
device. The glass microchannel array (GMA) was 2 mm thick and
of 25 mm diameter, made of untreated lead silicate glass (45%
SiO2, 55% PbO) (Fig. 1b). The two faces of the disc contained
100 nm-thick nichromegold coatings, which acted as conducting
surfaces. In addition, the two reservoirs were fitted with two
circular disc-shaped Pt black mesh electrodes, which could be
placed at specified distances from the two faces of the GMA.
The gold conducting surfaces and the Pt disk electrode pair
were individually connected to two separate potential- or

Fig. 1 (a) A digital image of the experimental apparatus. Electrolyte is

pumped from the reservoir, passes through the 3-way valves, the setup and
the flow meter, and finally returns to the reservoir. The purpose of the
3-way valves are to enable an alternating flow direction in the setup. The
inset shows the setup, constructed from three independent acrylic sections;
an inlet reservoir, a cylinder that surrounds and holds the microchannel
array in place, and an outlet reservoir.GMA thickness is 2 mm compared
with 36 mm, length of reservoirs. Diameter of reservoir is 25 mm. The
pressure transducer (PTD) records the pressure drop across the glass
microchannel array (GMA), the photograph of which is shown in (b). The
SEM image of the GMA is depicted in (c). The GMA consists of an array
of 3 437 500 circular microchannels, each with a pore diameter of 10 mm,
with its two faces coated with 100 nm layer of gold (Photonics Inc USA).

Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 40334036 | 4033

current-measuring devices (Keithley, Model 6517A). The

pressure transducers connected across the GMA also recorded
the pressure drop between the two reservoirs. All measurement
systems were automated using a LabVIEW based data
acquisition interface to a PC. The electrolyte solutions were
prepared employing fresh DI water of 18.2 MV-cm specific
resistivity (MilliQ 5, Millipore, MA). Experiments were
performed with DI water containing no added electrolyte
(henceforth referred to as 0 M KCl) and 0.05, 0.1, 1, and 2 mM
KCl. Conductivity of the electrolyte solutions were measured
using a conductivity meter (Accumet AR50, Fisher Scientific)
prior to the experiments.
The apparatus was first tested by performing experiments in an
open circuit mode and comparing the SP versus pressure drop data
with corresponding theoretical estimates obtained using the
Smoluchowski equation:14 (DV/DP)I=0 = ef/ms, where e is the
dielectric permittivity, f is the zeta potential of the GMA pore
walls, m is the solution viscosity, s is the bulk electrolyte solution
conductivity, and I is the net current. Assuming EDL overlap and
surface conductance effects are negligible, SPs were measured for
three different electrolyte concentrations (0.1 mM, 1 mM, and
2 mM KCl), all at pH of 6.6 (0.3) for a range of applied
pressures. The SPs were measured alternatively through the Au
and the Pt electrodes. Fig. 2 shows that the experimental data
points are in excellent conformity with the linear SP vs. DP regime
of the Smoluchoswki equation. The slopes of the straight lines can
be used to compute the f potential of the GMA capillary walls.
Fig. 3 shows the measured SP and the external currents using
the Au electrodes on the surface of the GMA, as well as the Pt
electrodes placed at various locations (2, 5, 10, 25 and 36 mm from
the GMA surfaces) in the reservoirs. It is apparent from Fig. 3a
that the SP measurements were identical using all electrodes and
their placements relative to the GMA for both 0 M KCl and
0.5 mM KCl solutions. This is expected in the open circuit SP
measurement mode. However, the measured short circuit external
currents using the Au and Pt electrodes are different (Fig. 3b). It is
evident that external currents measured using the Pt electrodes at
different locations inside the reservoirs progressively decay as the
Pt electrodes are placed farther from the GMA surface; hence such

Fig. 2 SPs vs. pressure drops. Experimental data points fall well in the
regime of Smoluchoswki equation leaving for instance a f potential of 257
3 mV at 2 mM KCl, pH = 6.6 for GMA. Error bars are standard
deviations of four measurements

4034 | Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 40334036

Fig. 3 a) SPs measured with Pt and Au electrodes across the GMA for
0 M KCl and 0.5 mM KCl. b) External currents obtained by Pt and Au
electrodes. Experiments were conducted for a fixed flow rate. The left most
symbols (corresponding to the 0 in the horizontal axis) represent
readings obtained using the Au electrodes on the GMA.

currents can not represent the theoretical SCs. Furthermore, the

current measured for the 0.5 mM KCL using the Pt electrodes
were higher than the corresponding measurements for the 0 mM
KCl. This is anticipated in light of the fact that the bulk reservoir
conductivity is higher for the 0.5 mM KCl electrolyte. However,
the current measured through the Au electrode pair for 0 mM KCl
was much higher (260 mA) than the corresponding current for the
0.5 mM KCl. These different readings are attributable to the
difference in the electric polarization behaviour of these two types
of electrodes, as well as the solution electric conductivity. These
experiments highlight the difficulty of SC measurements, limitations imposed by electrodes, both due to their nature and
placement, and the reservoirs, in attaining the theoretical SC when
driving such a device as an energy conversion system, thus limiting
their conversion efficiency.13
The observations of Fig. 3b stem from the fact that GMA
electrical resistance is comparable to the reservoir electrical
resistance and electrode resistance. In this case, due to low bulk
electrical resistance of 0.5 mM KCl, external currents measured
across the reservoirs using the Pt electrodes are higher than the
results obtained using a relatively non-conductive 0 M KCl
electrolyte solution. One can write Ohms law to represent the
steady state currentvoltage relationship for such devices as Istr =
SP/[(2RBL/A) + RGMA + 2RE], where RB is the bulk electrolyte
resistivity (MV-cm) of the reservoirs, RGMA is the effective
electrical resistance of the GMA (V), RE is the electrode resistance
(polarization) (V), and L and A are the length and cross sectional
area of the reservoirs, respectively (Fig. 4). When RGMA & (2RBL/
A + 2RE)), the displacement of electrodes (i.e., L) and size of
This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Fig. 4 Electrical analogy for a GMA associated with external circuits. The
circuit is divided into two parts based on the whether the charge carriers are
ions or electrons, and the interface in the surface of the electrodes (points A
and C). RB and RE are the bulk and electrode electrical resistance, respectively. RL is the external load. (Iconv) is the SC of a single microchannel
and CE and C are the capacitance of electrodes and the ith microchannels.

reservoirs (i.e., A) have negligible effect on total electrical

resistance. In such cases, SC measurements across the reservoirs
will be unaffected by electrode placement in the reservoir.
However, in the present experiments, when RGMA $ (2RBL/A +
2RE)), the SC measurements will be considerably influenced by
electrode placement.
Fig. 5 depicts the variation of output power versus the external
load resistance (RL) based on the electrical circuit of Fig. 4. For the
0 mM KCl solution, and using the Au electrodes, the maximum
power occurs when an external resistance equal to the total
resistance of the GMA, i.e., 51 kV, is connected parallel to the
device. Further enhancement of power density may be possible by
using the influence of slip effects, two phase flow, electrolyte
solution with lower ion mobility and layering of large ion at wall/
liquid interface.1518

In the context of electrokinetic conversion of flow work to

electricity, considering the external current data (Fig. 3b), maximum efficiency and power output can not be harnessed if the
electrodes are separated from the GMA by a gap of even a
millimeter. Therefore, unlike most other studies, both experimental
and theoretical,5,912 this work attempts to utilize the Au electrodes
embedded onto the two faces of the GMA as a means to maximize
the performance of the device. Table 1 summarizes the power
generation possible through such embedded electrodes. It is
striking to note that the device generates a maximum power of 1
mW at 1.3% efficiency and 26 kPa pressure drop when 0 M KCl
electrolyte solution was used as the working fluid. The power
density is in the order of 0.21 mW cm22 frontal area. Maximum
power output is expressed by Powermax = 0.25 6 SP 6 SC. The
input power is the product of the volumetric flow rate (Q) and the
pressure difference (DP). The efficiency is given by g = 0.25 6 SP
6 SC/(Q 6 DP). This result is believed to be due to the maximum
thickness of an EDL, large electrical resistance of GMA (lower
conduction currents) and limited electrode polarization at Au
electrodes for this working fluid. The increase in electrolyte
concentration to 1 mM KCl, however, results in no steady power
output, which is owing to the extensive polarization of the Au
electrodes.
Earlier studies have theoretically shown that when EDL overlap
occurs within a capillary, these devices obtain their maximum
energy conversion efficiency.19 However, experimental results in
literature for devices using unstructured nanoporous media often
do not support these theoretical results and report lower
efficiencies (for instance 0.77% for porous media with 200 nm
pores11). We identified three important reasons for such discrepancy, namely (i) efficiency of different electrode materials to
pick up the current, causing different extents of electrode
polarization, (ii) comparable electrical resistance of bulk electrolyte
reservoirs and electrodes to the resistance of the porous medium,
and (iii) suboptimal matching of the external load with the
resistance (to be more precise, impedance) of the device. All of
these issues lead to extreme challenges in obtaining and
maintaining the highest possible current (SC).20
The use of the GMA with 10 mm pores in our study allowed
creation of high streaming currents and potentials with lower
applied pressure drops. This was one of the reasons for achieving
the relatively higher efficiencies with the 0 mM KCl solution. With
nanochannels, although the EDL overlap can be attained for
higher salt concentrations, the power required for pumping the
electrolyte solution will be significantly higher (the pumping power
is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the radius of the
channel). Another advantage of the GMA compared to nanochannels and unstructured nanoporous media is that each
individual capillary in the array is electrically well-insulated from
Table 1 Experimental data obtained by Au electrodes. Values are
average of four successive measurements. Maximum of power was
estimated on the basis of SCs and SPs

Fig. 5 External resistance vs output power, the maximum power occurs

at 51 kV.

This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Electrolyte

Cond.

SP

SC

Power

M
0 M KCl
0.05 mM KCl
0.1 mM KCl
1 mM KCl

mS m21
50
450
1600
14 600

V
15.5
2.5
1
0.07

mA
260
100
10
0

mW
1
0.0625
0.0025
0

%
1.3
0.02
0.002
0

Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 40334036 | 4035

its surrounding capillaries, allowing high levels of parallelization of

the electrical resistances, while maximizing the fluid flow crosssection. This brings the experimental embodiment closer to the
geometries and assumptions employed in theoretical models.
However, with larger pore diameters in the GMA, it is necessary to
employ extremely low ionic strengths to attain modest double layer
overlap. Increasing the thickness of the GMA could also lead to
increase in total electrical resistance of the GMA compared to the
reservoirs, thereby enhancing the power output.
Another issue to be dealt with in such energy conversion
devices is the possibility of significant polarization of both Au
and Pt electrodes when operated in a unidirectional flow (DC)
mode. In this study, all experiments were conducted in an
alternating flow direction mode using the two 3-way valves.13
The transient and steady state SC results for 0 M KCl were
almost identical, hence the maximum output power was reported
as a steady state output. With higher salt concentrations, the
higher solution conductivity results in a more rapid decay of the
transient current, and the steady state current becomes very
small. Alternating the flow direction through the GMA resolves
this to some extent, but to obtain a suitable DC power, one needs
to use external rectifiers, or suitable impedance matching
techniques. Notwithstanding the above, the present study
provides considerable insight into the fundamental parameters
that should be considered to improve the energy conversion
efficiencies of these devices, and render them practical.
To summarize, a GMA coated with nano-layers of gold on both
its ends was fabricated and characterized as a device to convert
flow work to electricity. The maximum output power reached 1
mW at an efficiency of 1.3%. Measurements and interpretations
concerning SCs in GMA can be misleading if one fails to take into
account the role of adjacent reservoirs, electrode positions and
polarization. Due to the high power density (0.21 mW cm22) of
the current device, it may have the potential to power ultra-low
power lab-on-chip devices.

4036 | Lab Chip, 2012, 12, 40334036

The authors are grateful to Photonis USA Inc. for custom

fabricating the gold-coated GMAs. Financial support from
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) is gratefully acknowledged.

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This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012