Parallel integration of ionic wind generators on PCBs for enhancing flow rate

We report a novel ionic wind generator in which many single ionic wind generators are tightly integrated in parallel on printed circuit boards (PCBs). Experimental measurements demonstrate that the device produces an enhanced volumetric air flow by virtue of a large cross-sectional area. Although the parallel connection of multiple generators causes interference between parallel air jets, which degrades the wind speed, we reduce the interference with a shielding layer between the corona and collector electrodes. The proposed design for integrating multiple ionic wind generators on PCBs offers the potential for applications in cooling small electrical devices with the intrinsic characteristics of ionic wind generators, which are motionlessness, silence, and compactness.