Sheltering vortices by shear flow is a common method in plasma and neutral fluids and has recently been successfully applied to control ionic fluids. This work proposes a new chemical sheltering vortex method for electroconvective instability (ECI) based on the Onsager chemical effect. We reveal unique ECI behaviors in a weak electrolyte with the Onsager effect, including the vortex height selection, overlimiting transport, and vortex structure. Due to the strong electric field strength in the electric double layer, the Onsager effect in a weak electrolyte causes neutral molecules to generate additional free ions, which weakens the thickness of the extended space charge layer and causes the fluid to transition from a chaotic ECI to a steady ECI. Consequently, the Onsager effect shelters ECI without an oblique vortex, which is significantly different from the shear flow effect [Kwak et al., “Sheltering the perturbed vortical layer of electroconvection under shear flow,” J. Fluid Mech. 813, 799 (2017)]. We believe that the proposed chemical control strategy can be an alternative candidate for ionic fluids.

中文翻译：

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屏蔽弱电解质中的电对流不稳定性

通过剪切流屏蔽涡流是等离子体和中性流体中的常用方法，最近已成功应用于控制离子流体。这项工作基于 Onsager 化学效应提出了一种用于电对流不稳定性 (ECI) 的新化学掩蔽涡流方法。我们揭示了具有 Onsager 效应的弱电解质中独特的 ECI 行为，包括涡流高度选择、超限传输和涡流结构。由于双电层中的强电场强度，弱电解质中的昂萨格效应使中性分子产生额外的自由离子，从而削弱了扩展空间电荷层的厚度，使流体从混沌 ECI 过渡到稳定的 ECI。因此，昂萨格效应在没有斜涡的情况下庇护了 ECI，等。，“在剪切流下屏蔽电对流的扰动涡旋层”，J. Fluid Mech。813 , 799 (2017)]。我们相信所提出的化学控制策略可以成为离子流体的替代候选者。