No Arabic abstract
We have investigated ion current rectification properties of a recently prepared bipolar nanofluidic diode. This device is based on a single conically shaped nanopore in a polymer film whose pore walls contain a sharp boundary between positively and negatively charged regions. A semi-quantitative model that employs Poisson and Nernst-Plank equations predicts current-voltage curves as well as ionic concentrations and electric potential distributions in this system. We show that under certain conditions the rectification degree, defined as a ratio of currents recorded at the same voltage but opposite polarities, can reach values of over a 1000 at a voltage range <-2 V, +2 V>. The role of thickness and position of the transition zone on the ion current rectification is discussed as well. We also show that rectification degree scales with the applied voltage.
Recent experiments with electrolytes driven through conical nanopores give evidence of strong rectified current response. In such devices, the asymmetry in the confinement is responsible of the non-Ohmic response, suggesting that the interplay of entropic and enthalpic forces plays a major role. Here we propose a theoretical model to shed light on the physical mechanism underlying ionic current rectification (ICR). By use of an effective description of the ionic dynamics we explore the systems response in different electrostatic regimes. We show that the rectification efficiency, as well as the channel selectivity, is driven by the surface-to-bulk conductivity ratio Dukhin length rather than the electrical double layer overlap.
Ion transport in biological and synthetic nanochannels is characterized by phenomena such as ion current fluctuations and rectification. Recently, it has been demonstrated that nanofabricated synthetic pores can mimic transport properties of biological ion channels [P. Yu. Apel, {it et al.}, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B {bf 184}, 337 (2001); Z. Siwy, {it et al.}, Europhys. Lett. {bf 60}, 349 (2002)]. Here, the ion current rectification is studied within a reduced 1D Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) model of synthetic nanopores. A conical channel of a few $mathrm{nm}$ to a few hundred of nm in diameter, and of few $mu$m long is considered in the limit where the channel length considerably exceeds the Debye screening length. The rigid channel wall is assumed to be weakly charged. A one-dimensional reduction of the three-dimensional problem in terms of corresponding entropic effects is put forward. The ion transport is described by the non-equilibrium steady-state solution of the 1D Poisson-Nernst-Planck system within a singular perturbation treatment. An analytic formula for the approximate rectification current in the lowest order perturbation theory is derived. A detailed comparison between numerical results and the singular perturbation theory is presented. The crucial importance of the asymmetry in the potential jumps at the pore ends on the rectification effect is demonstrated. This so constructed 1D theory is shown to describe well the experimental data in the regime of small-to-moderate electric currents.
We report the realization of an ultra-efficient low-temperature hybrid heat current rectifier, thermal counterpart of the well-known electric diode. Our design is based on a tunnel junction between two different elements: a normal metal and a superconducting island. Electronic heat current asymmetry in the structure arises from large mismatch between the thermal properties of these two. We demonstrate experimentally temperature differences exceeding $60$ mK between the forward and reverse thermal bias configurations. Our device offers a remarkably large heat rectification ratio up to $sim 140$ and allows its prompt implementation in true solid-state thermal nanocircuits and general-purpose electronic applications requiring energy harvesting or thermal management and isolation at the nanoscale.
We develop a modified Poisson-Nernst-Planck model which includes both the long-range Coulomb and short-range hard-sphere correlations in its free energy functional such that the model can accurately describe the ion transport in complex environment and under a nanoscale confinement. The Coulomb correlation including the dielectric polarization is treated by solving a generalized Debye-Huckel equation which is a Greens function equation with the correlation energy of a test ion described by the self Greens function. The hard-sphere correlation is modeled through the modified fundamental measure theory. The resulting model is available for problems beyond the mean-field theory such as problems with variable dielectric media, multivalent ions, and strong surface charge density. We solve the generalized Debye-Huckel equation by the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation, and study the electrolytes between two parallel dielectric surfaces. In comparison to other modified models, the new model is shown more accurate in agreement with particle-based simulations and capturing the physical properties of ionic structures near interfaces.
We study global dynamics of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) system for flows of two types of ions through a narrow tubular-like membrane channel. As the radius of the cross-section of the three-dimensional tubular-like membrane channel approaches zero, a one-dimensional limiting PNP system is derived. This one-dimensional limiting system differs from previous studied one-dimensional PNP systems in that it encodes the defining geometry of the three-dimensional membrane channel. To justify this limiting process, we show that the global attractors of the three-dimensional PNP systems are upper semi-continuous to that of the limiting PNP system. We then examine the dynamics of the one-dimensional limiting PNP system. For large Debye number, the steady-state of the one-dimensional limiting PNP system is completed analyzed using the geometric singular perturbation theory. For a special case, an entropy-type Lyapunov functional is constructed to show the global, asymptotic stability of the steady-state.