text: Electroosmotic flow is caused by the Coulomb force induced by an electric field on net mobile electric charge in a solution.  Because the chemical equilibrium between a solid surface and an electrolyte solution typically leads to the interface acquiring a net fixed electrical charge, a layer of mobile ions, known as an electrical double layer or Debye layer, forms in the region near the interface.  When an electric field is applied to the fluid (usually via electrodes placed at inlets and outlets), the net charge in the electrical double layer is induced to move by the resulting Coulomb force.  The resulting flow is termed electroosmotic flow.