A nanofluidic ion regulation membrane with aligned cellulose nanofibers.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30801009.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aau4238 and PMC identifier 6386557.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The advancement of nanofluidic applications will require the identification of materials with high-conductivity nanoscale channels that can be readily obtained at massive scale. Inspired by the transpiration in mesostructured trees, we report a nanofluidic membrane consisting of densely packed cellulose nanofibers directly derived from wood. Numerous nanochannels are produced among an expansive array of one-dimensional cellulose nanofibers. The abundant functional groups of cellulose enable facile tuning of the surface charge density via chemical modification. The nanofiber-nanofiber spacing can also be tuned from ~2 to ~20 nm by structural engineering. The surface-charge-governed ionic transport region shows a high ionic conductivity plateau of ~2 mS cm<sup>-1</sup> (up to 10 mM). The nanofluidic membrane also exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility, demonstrating stable performance even when the membrane is folded 150°. Combining the inherent advantages of cellulose, this novel class of membrane offers an environmentally responsible strategy for flexible and printable nanofluidic applications.