Related papers: Opening a hydrophobic gate: the nicotinic acetylch…
Protein chains of the (FG)$_n$ ($n \simeq$ 300) type cap the cytoplasmatic side of the nucleopore complex, which connects the nucleus to the remainder of an eukaryotic cell. We study the properties of three fundamental polymer models that…
Water plays a key role in biological membrane transport. In ion channels and water-conducting pores (aquaporins), one dimensional confinement in conjunction with strong surface effects changes the physical behavior of water. In molecular…
Understanding intrusion and extrusion in nanoporous materials is a challenging multiscale problem of utmost importance for applications ranging from energy storage and dissipation to water desalination and hydrophobic gating in ion…
Nanopore membranes are a versatile platform for a wide range of applications ranging from medical sensing to filtration and clean energy generation. To attain high-flux rectifying ionic flow, it is required to produce short channels…
With the ability to selectively control ionic flux, biological protein ion channels perform a fundamental role in many physiological processes. For practical applications that require the functionality of a biological ion channel, graphene…
The drying of hydrophobic cavities is believed to play an important role in biophysical phenomena such as the folding of globular proteins, the opening and closing of ligand-gated ion channels, and ligand binding to hydrophobic pockets. We…
Modern theories of the hydrophobic effect highlight its dependence on length scale, emphasizing in particular the importance of interfaces that emerge in the vicinity of sizable hydrophobes. We recently showed that a faithful treatment of…
In fluid transport across nanopores, there is a fundamental dissipation that arises from the connection between the pore and the macroscopic reservoirs. This entrance effect can hinder the whole transport in certain situations, for short…
It is well known that water inside hydrophobic nano-channels diffuses faster than bulk water. Recent theoretical studies have shown that this enhancement depends on the size of the hydrophobic nanochannels. However, experimental evidence of…
The electrochemical switching of SrCoOx-based non-volatile memory with thin-film-transistor structure was examined by using liquid-leakage-free electrolytes with different conductivity (s) as the gate insulator. We first examined…
We investigate the hydrogen adsorption capacity of Na-coated carbon nanotubes (Na-SWCNTs) using first-principles electronic structure calculations at absolute temperature and pressure. A single Na atom is always found to occupy the hollow…
Ion channels are membrane proteins responsible for an enormous range of biological functions. Ion selectivity and permeation are based on simple laws of physics and chemistry. Ion channels are therefore ideal candidates for physical…
We examine theoretically porous membranes in aqueous mixtures. We show that large membrane pores can be reversibly gated from `off' (co-solvent-rich, poor conductor of ions and other solutes) to 'on' (water-rich, good conductor) states by…
We explore the structural properties of anomalous fluids confined in a nanopore using Molecular Dynamics simulations. The fluid is modeled by core-softened (CS) potentials that have a repulsive shoulder and an attractive well at a further…
So far, more than 82,000 protein structures have been reported in the Protein Data Bank, but the driving force and structures that allow for protein functions have not been elucidated at the atomic level for even one protein. We have been…
In solid-state nanopores, achieving reliable control over pore aperture opening and closing (gating) remains a major challenge. Gating can be driven by the applied voltage involving electrically tunable chemical reactions, achieved by…
A fundamental and open question is whether cross-Kerr nonlinearities can be used to construct a controlled-phase (CPHASE) gate. Here we propose a gate constructed from a discrete set of atom-mediated cross-Kerr interaction sites with…
We develop a robust and versatile platform to define nanostructures at oxide interfaces via patterned top gates. Using LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ as a model system, we demonstrate controllable electrostatic confinement of electrons to nanoscale…
Evaporation studies of water using classical molecular dynamics simulations are largely limited due to their high computational expense. This study addresses that issue by developing coarse-grained molecular dynamics models based on Morse…
Solid-state nanopore gating inspired by biological ion channels is gaining increasing traction due to a large range of applications in biosensing and drug delivery. Integration of stimuli-responsive molecules such as…