Microfluidic energy conversion by application of two phase flow

We investigated the energy conversion performance by the streaming potential using totally different approaches. By introducing gas bubbles, which can be considered as perfect insulators, the internal electrical resistance of the system can be increased, decreasing the conduction current. Following this approach, according to an equivalent circuit analysis, experimentally we achieved over 163 times efficiency increase compared with single water phase flow. The absolute efficiency however was still quite low, due to the corner conduction and high bulk conductivity of the solution used, as well as the use of microchannels. Hydrophobic surfaces are expected to further increase the energy conversion efficiency according to our preliminary experiments.