Related papers: Hydration Mimicry by Membrane Ion Channels
The network connectivity in liquid water is revised in terms of electronic signatures of hydrogen bonds (HBs) instead of geometric criteria, in view of recent X-ray absorption studies. The analysis is based on ab initio molecular-dynamics…
Interfacial hydration structures are crucial in wide-ranging applications, including battery, colloid, lubrication etc. Multivalent ions like Mg2+ and La3+ show irreplaceable roles in these applications, which are hypothesized due to their…
Ionic transport in nano- to sub-nano-scale pores is highly dependent on translocation barriers and potential wells. These features in the free-energy landscape are primarily the result of ion dehydration and electrostatic interactions. For…
A model of a finite cylindrical ion channel through a phospholipid membrane of width $L$ separating two electrolyte reservoirs is studied. Analytical solution of the Poisson equation is obtained for an arbitrary distribution of ions inside…
Ion channels play a key role in regulating cell behavior and in electrical signaling. In these settings, polar and charged functional groups -- as well as protein response -- compensate for dehydration in an ion-dependent way, giving rise…
Predicting the asymmetric structure and dynamics of solvated hydroxide and hydronium in water has been a challenging task from ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). The difficulty mainly comes from a lack of accurate and efficient…
We use molecular simulations of an ionic liquid in contact with a range of nanoporous carbons to investigate correlations between ion size, pore size, pore topology and properties of the adsorbed ions. We show that diffusion coefficients…
We give an explicit formula for the membrane potential of cells in terms of the intracellular and extracellular ionic concentrations, and derive equations for the ionic currents that flow through channels, exchangers and electrogenic pumps…
Numerical simulations of hydrated proteins show that protein hydration shells are polarized into a ferroelectric cluster with a large magnitude of its average dipole moment. The emergence of this new mesophase dramatically alters the…
We study the effect of intracellular ion diffusion on ionic currents permeating through the cell membrane. Ion flux across the cell membrane is mediated by special proteins forming specific channels. The structure of potassium channels have…
The kinetics of non-ionic surfactant adsorption at a fluid-fluid interface from a micellar solution is considered theoretically. Our model takes into account the effect of micelle relaxation on the diffusion of the free surfactant…
Virtually all cells use energy and ion-specific membrane pumps to maintain large transmembrane gradients of Na$^+$, K$^+$, Cl$^-$, Mg$^{++}$, and Ca$^{++}$. Although they consume up to 1/3 of a cell's energy budget, the corresponding…
Ion transport measurements are widely used as an indirect probe for various properties of confined electrolytes. It is generally assumed that the ion concentration in a nanoscale channel is equal to the ion concentration in the macroscopic…
Nanofluidic transport is ubiquitous in natural systems from extra-cellular communication in biology to geological phenomena, and promotes the emergence of new technologies such as energy harvesting and water desalination. While experimental…
Recent advances in experimental and computational techniques have allowed for an accurate description of the adsorption of ionic liquids on metallic electrodes. It is now well established that they adopt a multi-layered structure, and that…
Biological membranes are essential for the cell life and hydration water provides the driving force for their assembly and stability. Here we study the structural properties of water in a phospholipid membrane. We characterize local…
Nonequilibrium dynamics of biomembranes with active inclusions is considered. The inclusions represent protein molecules which perform cyclic internal conformational motions driven by the energy brought with ATP ligands. As protein…
Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are promising candidates for replacing proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries, and osmotic energy extraction systems. However, optimizing the…
Water's ability to autoionize into hydroxide and hydronium ions profoundly influences surface properties, rendering interfaces either basic or acidic. While it is well-established that protons show an affinity to the air-water interface, a…
Lower speed impinging ions (with hydration shells) cannot transverse ion channels once internal charge goes positive. Yet neural pulse waveforms fail to show the expected risetime distortion beginning at zero voltage. Observed waveforms…