Engineering Bio-inspired Self-assembled Nanochannels for Smart Ion Transport.

Highly efficient biological ion channels with sophisticated transport characteristics in living organisms have inspired the design of artificial channels that are functionally comparable to those of their natural counterparts and applicable on a much larger scale. Self-assembly currently offers a facile approach for producing nanoconfined ion channels that exhibit smart ion-transport properties, including ion selectivity, gating, and rectification, and have shown great potential for various applications. In this Minireview, we give an overview of strategies for engineering bio-inspired self-assembled ion channels. We focus on emerging channel assemblies based on different fabrication processes such as supramolecular assembly, nanosystem-based fabrication, and polymer-based integration. The applications of these bio-inspired channels in the exploration of physiological events, detection of molecules/ions, ion separation, and energy conversion are concisely presented. Finally, future developments and challenges of this booming research field are proposed.