Voltage gated ion and molecule transport in engineered nanochannels: theory, fabrication and applications

Abstract

Nanochannels remain at the focus of growing scientific and technological interest. The nanometer scale of the structure allows the discovery of a new range of phenomena that has not been possible in traditional microchannels, among which a direct field effect control over the charges in nanochannels is very attractive for various applications, since it offers a unique opportunity to integrate wet ionics with dry electronics seamlessly. This review will focus on the voltage gated ionic and molecular transport in engineered gated nanochannels. We will present an overview of the transport theory. Fabrication techniques regarding the gated nanostructures will also be discussed. In addition, various applications using the voltage gated nanochannels are outlined, which involves biological and chemical analysis, and energy conversion.

Energy conversion from external fluctuating signals based on asymmetric nanopores

“…This fact clearly suggests that soft matter nanostructures operating in an aqueous ionic solution can effectively be coupled to conventional electronic elements like commercial capacitors. Because of the biomimetic nature of the pore, the results have clear implications for sensing and information processing using bioelectronic interfaces and nanopore-based biosensors [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. We note in this context that the artificial nanopore used here shows electrical rectification and ionic selectivity characteristics similar to those observed in wide ion channels (e.g., the bacterial porin OmpF of Escherichia coli, a protein pore reconstituted on a planar lipid bilayer [12,13]).…”

Optimizing Energy Transduction of Fluctuating Signals with Nanofluidic Diodes and Load Capacitors

“…The physical approach is based on the efficient transduction between the ionic responses obtained at the micro‐ and nanoscale and the electronic readouts characteristic of the solid‐state elements . In particular, we have demonstrated the conversion of fluctuating zero‐average external potentials into nonzero ionic currents, both in artificial and biological systems.…”

High-flux ionic diodes, ionic transistors and ionic amplifiers based on external ion concentration polarization by an ion exchange membrane: a new scalable ionic circuit platform

“…Low ionic fluxes and high fluidic resistance also limit the possibility of using these ionic circuit elements to facilitate smart free-flow electrophoretic chips for high-throughput biomolecule separation, 21 and smart energy convertors for reverse electrodialysis platforms or electrical-to-mechanical energy conversion. 3, 22–24 …”