Interface Design of Nanochannels for Energy Utilization

Zhu, Yong; Zhan, Kan; Hou, Xu

doi:10.1021/acsnano.7b07923

Cited by 119 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Nanopores in ultrathin or atomically thin membranes find fantastic applications in, for example, DNA sequencing, chemical sensing and separation, water purification and desalination, gas separation, and energy conversion, owing to their infinitesimal pore length that allows selective transport of ions and molecules with ultimate permeability . From the fundamental aspect, the origin of the exceptional selectivity found in ultrathin nanopores remains unclear, and thus, attracts broad research interest .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Origin of Ion Selectivity in Ultrathin Nanopores: Insights for Membrane‐Scale Osmotic Energy Conversion

Cao

Feng

et al. 2018

Adv Funct Materials

111

112

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Nanopores in ultrathin or atomically thin membranes attract broad interest because the infinitesimal pore depth allows selective transport of ions and molecules with ultimate permeability. Toward large-scale osmotic energy conversion, great challenges remain in extrapolating the promising singlepore demonstration to really powerful macroscopic applications. Herein, the origin of the selective ion transport in ultrathin nanopores is systematically investigated. Based on a precise Poisson and Nernst-Planck model calculation, it is found that the generation of net diffusion current and membrane potential stems from the charge separation within the electric double layer on the outer membrane surface, rather than that on the inner pore wall. To keep the charge selectivity of the entire membrane, a critical surface charged area surrounding each pore orifice is therefore highly demanded. Otherwise, at high pore density, the membrane selectivity and the overall power density would fall down instead, which explains the giant gap between the actual experimental achievements and the single-pore estimation. To maximize the power generation, smaller nanopores (pore diameter ≈1-2 nm) are appropriate for large-scale osmotic energy conversion. With a porosity of ≈10%, the total power density approaches more than 200 W m -2 , anticipating a substantial advance toward high-performance large-scale nanofluidic power sources.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Origin of Ion Selectivity in Ultrathin Nanopores: Insights for Membrane‐Scale Osmotic Energy Conversion

Cao

Feng

et al. 2018

Adv Funct Materials

111

112

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“…1,2 Inspired by the structure and function of protein channels, researchers began to prepare articial nanochannels to mimic natural channels for biosensing, energy conversion, and smart gating. [3][4][5][6] Organic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) conical channels and inorganic AAO nanochannel arrays are the most widely studied. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Until now, one of the most important discoveries in the eld of electrolyte ion transport by articial solid nanochannels is the unidirectional ion rectication characteristics that originate from asymmetric systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A high rectification ratio nanofluidic diode induced by an “ion pool”

Liu

You

et al. 2020

RSC Adv.

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Inspired by functionalized biological ion channels, artificial channels were prepared to mimic the natural ones. The key concept behind the rectifying phenomena in nanochannels is the construction of asymmetric restrictive nanochannels. Here, we prepared nanoporous oxidized polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and WO 3 composite coatings on hourglass-shaped anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanochannel surfaces. Accordingly, a special "ion pool" is formed between the homogeneous junction in the middle of the AAO and the nanoporous PVA/WO 3 film-covered AAO surface and its two ends are greatly nano-confined.Ion enrichment and ion depletion occur in the "ion pool" and are dependant on the applied voltage polarity. A rectification ratio of 458, which is in accordance with the highest value found in previous reports, was obtained from the cooperative effects of the two small open ends of the "ion pool". Furthermore, this value is enhanced to about 2000 under constant voltage. An excellent pH-sensitive rectification property, with a single rectification direction from acidic to basic conditions, has also been demonstrated. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: SEM image of the middle region of the hourglass-shaped AAO; SEM of the cross section of the oxidized PVA modied hourglass-shaped AAO openings; histogram of rectication ratio calculated from the I-V curves of AAO-PVA in different KCl concentration. See

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“…However, the reported system generally suffers from a relatively low ion transport efficiency in the interface (i.e., transition region in the junction of the two layers of membranes) caused by a mismatch of pore alignment and inappropriate coupling between channels of different dimensions, leading to economically unviable power densities. The insufficient interfacial transport has been a main obstacle for the development of high-power heterogeneous membranes 32 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved osmotic energy conversion in heterogeneous membrane boosted by three-dimensional hydrogel interface

et al. 2020

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The emerging heterogeneous membranes show unprecedented superiority in harvesting the osmotic energy between ionic solutions of different salinity. However, the power densities are limited by the low interfacial transport efficiency caused by a mismatch of pore alignment and insufficient coupling between channels of different dimensions. Here we demonstrate the use of three-dimensional (3D) gel interface to achieve high-performance osmotic energy conversion through hybridizing polyelectrolyte hydrogel and aramid nanofiber membrane. The ionic diode effect of the heterogeneous membrane facilitates one-way ion diffusion, and the gel layer provides a charged 3D transport network, greatly enhancing the interfacial transport efficiency. When used for harvesting the osmotic energy from the mixing of sea and river water, the heterogeneous membrane outperforms the state-of-the-art membranes, to the best of our knowledge, with power densities of 5.06 W m −2. The diversity of the polyelectrolyte and gel makes our strategy a potentially universal approach for osmotic energy conversion.

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Interface Design of Nanochannels for Energy Utilization

Cited by 119 publications

References 26 publications

On the Origin of Ion Selectivity in Ultrathin Nanopores: Insights for Membrane‐Scale Osmotic Energy Conversion

On the Origin of Ion Selectivity in Ultrathin Nanopores: Insights for Membrane‐Scale Osmotic Energy Conversion

A high rectification ratio nanofluidic diode induced by an “ion pool”

Improved osmotic energy conversion in heterogeneous membrane boosted by three-dimensional hydrogel interface

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