title: Polarized Water Wires under Confinement in Chiral Channels.
abstract: The alignment of water molecules along chiral pores may activate proton/ion conduction along dipolar hydrophilic pathways. Here we show that a simple synthetic "T-channel" forms a directional pore with its carbonyl moieties solvated by chiral helical water wires. Atom-scale simulations and experimental crystallographic assays reveal a dynamical structure of water and electrolyte solutions (alkali metal chlorides) confined in these organic T-channels. Oscillations in the dipole orientation, which correspond to alternative ordering (dipole up-dipole down) of the water molecules with a period of about 4.2 Å (imposed by the distance between two successive carbonyl groups) are observed. When ions are added to the system, despite the strong Coulombic water/ion interaction, confined water remains significantly ordered in the T-channel and still exhibits surface-induced polarization. Cation permeation can be achieved through alternated hydration-dehydration occurring along strongly oriented water wires. The T-channel, which exhibits chirality with strong water orientation, provides an opportunity to unravel novel water-channel systems that share many interesting properties of biomolecular systems.
authors.affiliation: †Adaptive Supramolecular Nanosystems Group, Institut Européen des Membranes, ENSCM-UM-UMR-CNRS5635, Place Eugène Bataillon CC047, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Mihail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barboiu
authors.affiliation: §MultiScale Materials Science for Energy and Environment, UMI 3466 CNRS-MIT and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Pierre-André
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cazade
authors.affiliation: †Adaptive Supramolecular Nanosystems Group, Institut Européen des Membranes, ENSCM-UM-UMR-CNRS5635, Place Eugène Bataillon CC047, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Le Duc
authors.affiliation: †Adaptive Supramolecular Nanosystems Group, Institut Européen des Membranes, ENSCM-UM-UMR-CNRS5635, Place Eugène Bataillon CC047, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Yves-Marie
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Legrand
authors.affiliation: †Adaptive Supramolecular Nanosystems Group, Institut Européen des Membranes, ENSCM-UM-UMR-CNRS5635, Place Eugène Bataillon CC047, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Lee
authors.affiliation: ‡Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM), UMR 5253 CNRS/ENSCM/Université Montpellier 2, 8 rue de l'Ecole Normale, F-34296 Montpellier, France.|§MultiScale Materials Science for Energy and Environment, UMI 3466 CNRS-MIT and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Coasne
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry*; D017136:Ion Transport; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D007473:Ion Channels; D014867:Water