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For a wide range of modern soft functional materials the selective transport of sub-nanometer-sized molecules (`penetrants') through a stimuli-responsive polymeric membrane is key to the desired function. In this study, we investigate the…
The uptake and sorption of charged molecules by responsive polymer membranes and hydrogels in aqueous solutions is of key importance for the development of soft functional materials. Here we investigate the partitioning of simple monoatomic…
Specific molecular interactions underlie unexpected and useful phenomena in nanofluidic systems, but require descriptions that go beyond traditional macroscopic hydrodynamics. In this letter, we demonstrate how equilibrium molecular…
We investigate the dynamics of water confined in soft ionic nano-assemblies, an issue critical for a general understanding of the multi-scale structure-function interplay in advanced materials. We focus in particular on hydrated…
Mechanosensitive ion nanochannels regulate transport by undergoing conformational changes within nanopores. However, achieving precise control over these conformational states remains a major challenge for both artificial soft or solid…
Molecular Dynamics simulations of water molecules in nanometre sized cylindrical channels connecting two reservoirs show that the permeation of water is very sensitive to the channel radius and to electric polarization of the embedding…
We study the effect of volumetric constraints on the structure and electronic transport properties of distilled water in a nanopore with embedded electrodes. Combining classical molecular dynamics simulations with quantum scattering theory,…
We consider a class of systems where, due to the large mismatch of dielectric constants, the Coulomb interaction is approximately one-dimensional. Examples include ion channels in lipid membranes and water filled nanopores in silicon or…
On the basis of the experimental data we suggest that water monomers could be trapped in channels running through ice-like clusters in water. Our argument relies on a simple model that describes the motion of a dipole particle inside a…
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…
The morphology and transport properties of thin films of the ionomer Nafion, with thicknesses on the order of the bulk cluster size, have been investigated as a model system to explain the anomalous behaviour of catalyst/electrode-polymer…
Ionic Coulomb blockade in nanopores is a phenomenon that shares some similarities but also differences with its electronic counterpart. Here, we investigate extensively this phenomenon using all-atom molecular dynamics of ionic transport…
Ion channels regulate many essential properties of biological cells, especially the membrane potential. Despite decades of efforts on artificial channels, it remains a great challenge to mimic the dipole potential-an indispensable…
Ion transport through nanopores permeates through many areas of science and technology, from cell behavior to sensing and separation to catalysis and batteries. Two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, molybdenum disulfide (MoS$_2$),…
Ionic transport in nanopores is a fundamentally and technologically important problem in view of its occurrence in biological processes and its impact on novel DNA sequencing applications. Using microscopic calculations, here we show that…
Graphene-based laminates, with ultralong and tortuous nanocapillaries formed by simply stacking graphene flakes together, have great promises in filtration and separation. However, the information on liquid water trans-membrane permeation…
The permeability of certain polymer membranes with impenetrable nanoinclusions increases with the particle volume fraction (Merkel et al., Science, 296, 2002). This intriguing observation contradicts even qualitative expectations based on…
Nanoscale films play a central role in biology and osmotic separations. Their water/salt selectivity is often regarded as intrinsic property, favoring thinner membranes for faster permeation. Here we highlight and quantify a fundamental…
Fundamental understanding of ionic transport at the nanoscale is essential for developing biosensors based on nanopore technology and new generation high-performance nanofiltration membranes for separation and purification applications. We…
Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the effect of phase transitions on the transport properties of highly-confined water between parallel graphene sheets. An abrupt reduction by several orders of magnitude in…