Thin double layer approximation to describe streaming current fields in complex geometries: Analytical framework and applications to microfluidics

We set up an analytical framework that allows one to describe and compute streaming effects and electro-osmosis on an equal footing. This framework relies on the thin double layer approximation commonly used for description of electroosmotic flows, but rarely used for streaming problems. Using this framework we quantitatively assess the induction of bulk streaming current patterns by topographic or charge heterogeneities on surfaces. This too also permits analytical computation of all linear electrokinetic effects in complex microfluidic geometries, and we discuss a few immediate applications.