• 文献标题:   Multifunctional graphene heterogeneous nanochannel with voltage-tunable ion selectivity
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   SU SH, ZHANG YF, PENG SY, GUO LX, LIU Y, FU EG, YAO HJ, DU JL, DU GH, XUE JM
  • 作者关键词:  
  • 出版物名称:   NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
  • ISSN:  
  • 通讯作者地址:  
  • 被引频次:   10
  • DOI:   10.1038/s41467-022-32590-9
  • 出版年:   2022

▎ 摘  要

Nanoporous 2D materials have shown promising potential for ion sieving applications due to their physical and chemical properties. Here authors develop a heterogeneous graphene-based polyethylene terephthalate nanochannel with ion sieving ability that is controlled by adjusting the applied voltage. Ion-selective nanoporous two-dimensional (2D) materials have shown extraordinary potential in energy conversion, ion separation, and nanofluidic devices; however, different applications require diverse nanochannel devices with different ion selectivity, which is limited by sample preparation and experimental techniques. Herein, we develop a heterogeneous graphene-based polyethylene terephthalate nanochannel (GPETNC) with controllable ion sieving to overcome those difficulties. Simply by adjusting the applied voltage, ion selectivity among K+, Na+, Li+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ of the GPETNC can be immediately tuned. At negative voltages, the GPETNC serves as a mono/divalent ion selective device by impeding most divalent cations to transport through; at positive voltages, it mimics a biological K+ nanochannel, which conducts K+ much more rapidly than the other ions with K+/ions selectivity up to about 4.6. Besides, the GPETNC also exhibits the promise as a cation-responsive nanofluidic diode with the ability to rectify ion currents. Theoretical calculations indicate that the voltage-dependent ion enrichment/depletion inside the GPETNC affects the effective surface charge density of the utilized graphene subnanopores and thus leads to the electrically controllable ion sieving. This work provides ways to develop heterogeneous nanochannels with tunable ion selectivity toward broad applications.