Goutham Solleti, Gogoi Raj Kumar, Jyothilal Hiran, Nam Gwang-Hyeon, Ismail Abdulghani, Pandey Siddhi Vinayak, Keerthi Ashok, Radha Boya
Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
Small Methods. 2025 Mar;9(3):e2400961. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202400961. Epub 2024 Oct 17.
Angstrom-scale fluidic channels offer immense potential for applications in areas such as desalination, molecular sieving, biomolecular sequencing, and dialysis. Inspired by biological ion channels, nano- and angstrom (Å)-scale channels are fabricated that mimic these molecular or atomic-scale dimensions. At the Å-scale, these channels exhibit unique phenomena, including selective ion transport, osmotic energy generation, fast water and gas flows, and neuromorphic ion memory. However, practical utilization of Å-scale channels is often hindered by contamination, which can clog these nanochannels. In this context, a promising technique is introduced here for unclogging 2D channels, particularly those with sub-nanometre dimensions (≈6.8 Å). The voltage-cycling method emerges as an efficient and reliable solution for this challenge. The electric field effectively dislodges contaminants from the clogged Å-scale channels, facilitating ion and molecular transport. This study provides practical guidelines for reviving clogged nano- and Å-scale channels, thereby enhancing their applicability in various ion and molecular transport applications.
埃尺度的流体通道在海水淡化、分子筛分、生物分子测序和透析等领域具有巨大的应用潜力。受生物离子通道的启发，人们制造出了模拟这些分子或原子尺度尺寸的纳米和埃（Å）尺度通道。在埃尺度下，这些通道呈现出独特的现象，包括选择性离子传输、渗透能产生、快速的水和气体流动以及神经形态离子记忆。然而，埃尺度通道的实际应用常常受到污染的阻碍，污染会堵塞这些纳米通道。在此背景下，本文介绍了一种用于疏通二维通道，特别是亚纳米尺寸（≈6.8 Å）通道的有前景的技术。电压循环法成为应对这一挑战的有效且可靠的解决方案。电场能有效地将污染物从堵塞的埃尺度通道中清除，促进离子和分子传输。本研究为恢复堵塞的纳米和埃尺度通道提供了实用指南，从而提高它们在各种离子和分子传输应用中的适用性。
