Li Zhongwu, Hall Alex T, Wang Yaqing, Li Yuhao, Byrne Dana O, Scammell Lyndsey R, Whitney R Roy, Allen Frances I, Cumings John, Noy Aleksandr
Materials Science Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Sci Adv. 2024 Sep 6;10(36):eado8081. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ado8081.
Nanotube porins form transmembrane nanomaterial-derived scaffolds that mimic the geometry and functionality of biological membrane channels. We report synthesis, transport properties, and osmotic energy harvesting performance of another member of the nanotube porin family: boron nitride nanotube porins (BNNTPs). Cryo-transmission electron microscopy imaging, liposome transport assays, and DNA translocation experiments show that BNNTPs reconstitute into lipid membranes to form functional channels of ~2-nm diameter. Ion transport studies reveal ion conductance characteristics of individual BNNTPs, which show an unusual scaling with ion concentration and pronounced pH sensitivity. Reversal potential measurements indicate that BNNTPs have strong cation selectivity at neutral pH, attributable to the high negative charge on the channel. BNNTPs also deliver very large power density up to 12 kW/m in the osmotic gradient transport experiments at neutral pH, surpassing that of other BNNT-based devices by two orders of magnitude under similar conditions. Our results suggest that BNNTPs are a promising platform for mass transport and osmotic power generation.
纳米管孔蛋白形成跨膜纳米材料衍生的支架，其模仿生物膜通道的几何形状和功能。我们报告了纳米管孔蛋白家族的另一个成员——氮化硼纳米管孔蛋白（BNNTPs）的合成、传输特性及渗透能收集性能。低温透射电子显微镜成像、脂质体运输实验和DNA转位实验表明，BNNTPs重构到脂质膜中形成直径约为2纳米的功能性通道。离子传输研究揭示了单个BNNTPs的离子传导特性，其显示出与离子浓度不同寻常的比例关系以及明显的pH敏感性。反转电位测量表明，BNNTPs在中性pH下具有很强的阳离子选择性，这归因于通道上的高负电荷。在中性pH下的渗透梯度运输实验中，BNNTPs还能提供高达12 kW/m的非常大的功率密度，在类似条件下比其他基于BNNT的装置高出两个数量级。我们的结果表明，BNNTPs是大规模运输和渗透发电的一个有前景的平台。
