We describe a model for an optimal choice of pore shapes regarding the preparation of free-standing ionic exchange membranes (IEM) based on porous silicon with specific pore shapes for reversed electrodialysis (RED) energy harvesting system. The works aims at translating the experimental observations associated with the fabrication of PSi to a model based on a numerical study of a single nanopore with a surface charge density on its surface. Considering the pore shapes, pore density and pores roughness, numerical results from the single nanopore study can be used for a full-scale PSi membrane and allows to better understand the impact of these parameters on the power density. We show that there exists an optimum for the maximum power on a fixed membrane surface and give direction for the choice of fabrication parameter for PSi as IEM.
Hanus et al. (Wed,) studied this question.