Gated ion transport in a soft nanochannel with biomimetic polyelectrolyte brush layers

Abstract Functionalized nanofluidics has recently emerged as a powerful platform for applications of energy conversion as well as ionic diodes. Inspired by biological cells, we theoretically investigate for the first time the gate modulation of ion transport and selectivity in the soft nanochannel functionalized with biomimetic, pH-tunable, zwitterionic polyelectrolyte (PE) brush layers. The gate effect on the modulation of Donnan potential, ionic conductance, and ion selectivity in the biomimetic soft nanochannel is remarkable when the background salt concentration is low, pH is close to the isoelectric point of PE brush layers (slightly acidic), and the grafting density of PE brushes on the channel wall is small. Under those conditions, the biomimetic gated soft nanochannel is capable of being highly cation-selective when a negative gate voltage is applied. The findings provide a novel way for designing nanofluidic devices used in osmotic energy conversion and ion current rectification.

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