Herein, based on biomimetic strategies, a tunable mercury(ii) ion-gate modulated by mercaptoacetic acid-pillar[5]arene (MAP5) is reported.

Chiral drugs play an essential role in medical and biochemical systems, and thus enantioselective analysis of chiral molecules has become a central focus in chemical, biological, medical, and pharmaceutical research. The design of chiral drug-detecting systems is a long-term and challenging task. Here we report the use of a modification-free nanochannel method for enantioselective recognition of S-naproxen from R-naproxen using N-acetyl-l-cysteine-capped gold nanoparticles as a chiral selector. The chiral discrimination is based on a drug-induced nanoparticle diastereoselective aggregation mechanism that blocks ion transport through the nanochannel. We demonstrated that high S-Npx selectivity in both water and biological samples can be achieved. This simple method has potential applications as a general platform for the detection of chiral molecules.

Channel tunneling: We have prepared functional biomimetic nanochannels in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer films (see illustration). We used p-sulfonatocalix[4]arene to modify the channel surface by flexible layer-by-layer electrostatic assembly. Using this method we were able to detect acetylcholine with high sensitivity.

No abstract

By mimicking nature, various artificial nanofluidic platforms have been widely applied in a range of scientific fields. However, their low performance in terms of gating efficiency (<25) still hinders their practical applications. Herein, we present a highly efficient ionic gating nanosensor by fusing the merits of host−guest chemistry and Au nanoparticles (AuNPs). Based on this strategy, the pillar[6]arene (WP6)-functionalized AuNPs facilely regulated an azobenzene (AZO)-modified nanosensor with an excellent ion rectification ratio (∼22.2) and gating efficiency (∼89.5). More importantly, this gating nanosensor system also demonstrated promising stability and recyclability under conditions of alternative irradiation of visible and ultraviolet light. These excellent results would significantly help in expanding the utilization of artificial nanosensors for controllable drug delivery and biosensors. Article pubs.acs.org/ac