title: The concept of entropic rectifier facing experiments.
abstract: The transport of molecules in confined media is subject to entropic barriers. So theoretically, asymmetry of the confinement length may lead to molecular ratchets with entropy as the only driving force for the biased transport. We address experimentally this question by performing alternative ionic current measurements on electrolytes confined in neutral conical nanopores. In case anions and cations widely differ in size, we show that rectification of ionic current can be obtained that depends on ions size and cycle frequency, consistently with the entropic ratchet mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lairez
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Solides Irradiés, École polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau cedex, France.
authors.forename: M-C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Clochard
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Solides Irradiés, École polytechnique, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau cedex, France.
authors.forename: J-E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wegrowe