Electrokinetic Energy Conversion Efficiency In A Polyeletrolyte-Grafted Nanotube

Nanofluidic tubes whose walls are covered by polyelectrolyte materials,denoted as the fixed charge layer(FCL),are identified as soft nanotubes.Under low zeta potential approximation,this article analytically solves the linearized Poissson-Boltzmann equation and modified Navier-Stokes equation by Bessel function.Finally,the streaming potential and electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency in soft nanotubes is studied.We compare the results in a soft nanotube with those in a rigid one,whose zeta potential and pipe diameter is equal to that in the soft nanotube.We find that the electric potential in a rigid nanotube is lower than that in the corresponding soft nanotube,which results in a larger streaming potential and electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency in the soft nanotue.Moreover,for the parameter ranges considered in this work,our results show that the electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency in a soft nanotube is one point five to three times of that in a rigid nanotube.