• 文献标题:   Selective Trans-Membrane Transport of Alkali and Alkaline Earth Cations through Graphene Oxide Membranes Based on Cation-pi Interactions
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   SUN PZ, ZHENG F, ZHU M, SONG ZG, WANG KL, ZHONG ML, WU DH, LITTLE RB, XU ZP, ZHU HW
  • 作者关键词:   selective permeation, cationpi interaction, graphene oxide, alkali alkaline earth cation, thermodynamic, firstprinciples calculation
  • 出版物名称:   ACS NANO
  • ISSN:   1936-0851 EI 1936-086X
  • 通讯作者地址:   Tsinghua Univ
  • 被引频次:   179
  • DOI:   10.1021/nn4055682
  • 出版年:   2014

▎ 摘  要

Graphene and graphene oxide (G-0) have been demonstrated to be excellent filters for various gases and liquids, showing potential applications in areas such as molecular sieving and water desalination. In this paper, the selective trans-membrane transport properties of alkali and alkaline earth cations through a membrane composed of stacked and overlapped G-0 sheets ("G-0 membrane") are investigated. The thermodynamics of the ion transport process reveal that the competition between the generated thermal motions and the interactions of cations with the G-0 sheets results in the different penetration behaviors to temperature variations for the considered cations (K+ Mg2+, Ca2+ and Ba2+). The interactions between the studied metal atoms and graphene are quantified by first-principles calculations based on the plane-wave-basis-set density functional theory (DFT) approach. The mechanism of the selective ion trans-membrane transportation is discussed further and found to be consistent with the concept of cation-pi interactions involved in biological systems. The balance between cation-pi interactions of the cations considered with the sp(2) clusters of G-0 membranes and the desolvation effect of the ions is responsible for the selectivity of G-0 membranes toward the penetration of different ions. These results help us better understand the ion transport process through G-0 membranes, from which the possibility of modeling the ion transport behavior of cellular membrane using G-0 can be discussed further. The selectivity toward different ions also makes G-0 membrane a promising candidate in areas of membrane separations.