Maximizing Electrokinetic Energy Conversion via the Intersecting Asymptotes Method

Abstract

It has been shown in earlier studies that the maximum electrokinetic conversion efficiency between flow and electric work (e.g., electrokinetic power generation) occurs when electric double-layer (λ) overlaps and there is no electroneutral zone in a nanometer-scale channel. This result has been shown through cumbersome and lengthy numerical and theoretical studies. The case is made here that complications associated with solving the coupled set of governing equations i.e. Poisson, Nernst-Planck, and Navier-Stokes (PNPNS) could be drastically reduced to a two-step solution by method of intersecting asymptotes.