title: Controlling potassium selectivity and proton blocking in a hybrid biological/solid-state polymer nanoporous membrane.
abstract: Specific separations of protons and cations are usually performed by electromembrane processes, which require external electric energy. An easier process would be using a membrane able to separate both entities by passive diffusion. Presently, such synthetic nanoporous membranes do not exist. Here, we report the production of a robust hybrid biological/artificial solid-state membrane, which allows selective permeation of alkali metal cations without competing or concurrent permeation of protons. This membrane is simple to prepare and is based on the hydrophobic nature of the polymeric pore walls, and the confined gramicidin A molecules within. This work opens a new route for separation in the domain of nanobiofiltration, especially for tunable nanodevices based on differential ion conduction, with a fundamental understanding of the confinement mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Institut Européen des Membranes, UMR5635 CNRS-UM2-ENSCM, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. sebastien.balme@univ-montp2.fr
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balme
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Picaud
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraszewski
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Déjardin
authors.forename: Jean Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Janot
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lepoitevin
authors.forename: Jhon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Capomanes
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramseyer
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Henn
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D006096:Gramicidin / Q000737:chemistry; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D058608:Nanopores; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011188:Potassium / Q000737:chemistry*; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D011522:Protons; D006096:Gramicidin; D011188:Potassium