Electrokinetic instability in microchannel flows: A review

Electrokinetic instability is a microscale instability observed during the development of electrokinetic microfluidic applications, and is induced by an interaction between the electric field and fluid motion. In this brief review, the basic mechanism as well as the various aspects of this instability are summarized. These include the effects of field alignment, electroosmotic velocity (convective and absolute instability), channel dimension, periodic forcing, and multiple-species. A brief discussion on the applications of the instability is also presented.