Niu Mengdi, Chen Yuang, Chen Fanfan, Zhao Chunxiao, Yang Yibo, Xu Yang, Feng Jiandong
Laboratory of Experimental Physical Biology, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People's Republic of China.
Research Center for Quantum Sensing, Research Institute of Intelligent Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, , Hangzhou 311121, People's Republic of China.
Nano Lett. 2023 Feb 8;23(3):1010-1016. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c04507. Epub 2023 Jan 24.
Inspired by natural photosynthesis, light has become an emerging ionic behavior regulator and ion-pumping source. Nanoprocessing technology has allowed the bridge between the light-regulated nanofluids and the optoelectronic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials, which inspires applications like energy harvesting and enhances fundamental understandings in nanofluidics. However, unlike light-induced ion pumping based on densely layered membranes with multiple nanochannels, experimental implementation on atomically thin materials featuring only a single nanochannel remains challenging. Here, we report light-induced ion pumping based on a single artificial heterojunction nanopore. Under light illumination, the induced current through a single nanopore reaches tens of picoamperes. The hole-electron separation originating from the optoelectrical property of a van der Waals PN junction is proposed to capture the light-driven ion transport. Further, different methods are adopted to modify the ion behavior and response time, presenting potential applications in fluidic photoenergy harvesting, photoelectric ion transport control, and bionic artificial neurons.
受自然光合作用的启发，光已成为一种新兴的离子行为调节剂和离子泵浦源。纳米加工技术搭建起了光调控纳米流体与二维（2D）材料光电特性之间的桥梁，这激发了诸如能量收集等应用，并增进了对纳米流体学的基本理解。然而，与基于具有多个纳米通道的密集层状膜的光致离子泵浦不同，在仅具有单个纳米通道的原子级薄材料上进行实验实现仍然具有挑战性。在此，我们报告了基于单个人工异质结纳米孔的光致离子泵浦。在光照下，通过单个纳米孔的感应电流达到数十皮安。提出源自范德华PN结光电特性的空穴-电子分离来捕获光驱动的离子传输。此外，采用不同方法来改变离子行为和响应时间，展现了在流体光能量收集、光电离子传输控制和仿生人工神经元方面的潜在应用。
