We report a multiscale modeling study for charged cylindrical nanopores using three modeling levels that include (1) an all-atom explicit-water model studied with molecular dynamics (MD), and reduced models with implicit water containing (2) hard-sphere ions studied with the Local Equilibrium Monte Carlo simulation method (computing ionic correlations accurately), and (3) point ions studied with Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) theory (mean-field approximation). We show that reduced models are able to reproduce device functions (rectification and selectivity) for a wide variety of charge patterns; that is, reduced models are useful in understanding the mesoscale physics of the device (i.e., how the current is produced). We also analyze the relationship of the reduced implicit-water models with the explicit-water model and show that diffusion coefficients in the reduced models can be used as adjustable parameters with which the results of the explicit-and implicit-water models can be related. We find that the values of the diffusion coefficients are sensitive to the net charge of the pore, but are relatively transferable to different voltages and charge patterns with the same total charge. Multiscale analysis of the effect of surface charge pattern on a nanopore's rectification and selectivity properties: from all-atom model to Poisson-Nernst-Planck -4/15

We present a scaling behavior of a rectifying bipolar nanopore as a function of the parameter ξ = R P /(λ z if ), where R P is the radius of the pore, λ is the characteristic screening length of the electrolyte filling the pore, and z if = z + |z − | is a scaling factor that makes scaling work for electrolytes containing multivalent ions (z + and z − are cation and the anion valences). By scaling we mean that the rectification of the pore (defined as the ratio of currents in the forward and reversed biased states) depends on pore radius, concentration, c, and ion valences via the parameter ξ implicitly. This feature is based on the fact that rectification depends on the voltage-sensitive appearance of depletion zones that, in turn, depend on the relation of R P to the rescaled screening length λ z if . In this modeling study, we use the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) theory and a particle simulation method, the Local Equilibrium Monte Carlo (LEMC). The latter can compute ion correlations that are ignored in the mean-field treatment of PNP and that are very important for multivalent ions (we show results for 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, and 2:2 electrolytes). In addition to the z if factor, we show that one must choose a screening length appropriate to the system, in our case the Debye length for λ for PNP and the screening length given by the Mean Spherical Approximation for LEMC.

Bipolar nanopores have powerful rectification properties due to the asymmetry in the charge pattern on the wall of the nanopore. In particular, bipolar nanopores have positive and negative surface charges...

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Surface modifications fundamentally influence the morphology of kaolinite nanostructures as a function of crystallinity and the presence of contaminants. Besides morphology, the catalytic properties of 1:1-type exfoliated aluminosilicates are also influenced by the presence of defect sites that can be generated in a controlled manner by mechanochemical activation. In this work, we investigated exfoliated halloysite nanoparticles with a quasi-homogeneous, scroll-type secondary structure toward developing structural/functional relationships for composition, atomic structure, and morphology. The surface properties of thin-walled nanoscrolls were studied as a function of mechanochemical activation expressed by the duration of dry-grinding. The surface characterizations were carried out using N, NH, and CO adsorption measurements. The effects of grinding on the nanohalloysite structure were followed using thermoanalytical thermogravimetric/derivative thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) and infrared spectroscopic [Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflection (FTIR/ATR)] techniques. Grinding results in partial dehydroxylation with similar changes as those observed for heat treatment above 300 °C. Mechanochemical activation shows a decrease in the dehydroxylation mass loss and the DTG peak temperature, a decrease in the specific surface area and the number of mesopores, an increase in the surface acidity, blue shift of surface hydroxide bands, and a decrease in the intensity of FTIR/ATR bands as a function of the grinding time. The experimental observations were used to guide atomic-scale structural and energetic simulations using realistic molecular cluster models for a nanohalloysite particle. A full potential energy surface description was developed for the mechanochemical activation and/or heating toward nanometahalloysite formation that aids the interpretation of experimental results. The calculated differences upon dehydroxylation show a remarkable agreement with the mass loss values from DTG measurements.