title: Bioinspired Smart Gate-Location-Controllable Single Nanochannels: Experiment and Theoretical Simulation.
abstract: pH-activated gates intelligently govern the ion transport behaviors of a wide range of bioinspired ion channels, but the mechanisms between the gate locations and the functionalities of the ion channels remain poorly understood. Here, we construct an artificial gate-location-tunable single-nanochannel system to systematically investigate the impact of the gate location on the ion transport property of the biomimetic ion channel. The gate-location-controllable single nanochannels are prepared by asymmetrically grafting pH-responsive polymer gates on one side of single nanochannels with gradual shape transformation. Experimental ion current measurements show that the gating abilities and rectification effects of the pH-gated nanochannels can be gradually altered by precisely locating the artificial pH gates on the different sites of the channels. The experimental gate-location-dependent gating and rectification of ion current in the bioinspired ion channel system is further well confirmed by theoretical simulation. This work, as an example, provides a new avenue to optimize the smart ion transport features of diverse artificial nanogate devices via precisely locating the gates on the appropriate sites of the artificial nanochannels.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huacheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jue
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guanglei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University , Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Ranwen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University , Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Huanting
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels
keywords: bioinspired ion channel; ion current rectification; pH gating; single nanochannel; tunable gate location