Interfacial Voltage-Gated Electrokinetic Transport in Monolayer MoS₂ Nanopores.

Abstract

Electrokinetic transport under nanoconfinement is governed by solid-liquid interfacial interactions. Although electrical modulation offers a facile route to regulate ion transport, existing approaches often use a transmembrane bias requiring continuous external driving, which imposes an axial electric field and thereby complicates mechanistic interpretation. Here, we report an electrolyte/interfacial voltage-gating strategy in which a gate voltage is introduced between a monolayer molybdenum disulfide nanopore and a counter electrode without intentionally applying a transmembrane voltage bias. This configuration enables gate-tunable electrokinetic transport and induces a pronounced polarity reversal of pressure-driven streaming current within a narrow subvolt gating window. The reversal is consistent with gate-controlled modulation of the effective interfacial charge state, which changes the excess mobile ionic charge transported by pressure-driven flow. These findings establish interfacial voltage gating as a route for regulating pressure-driven electrokinetic transport in nanofluidic systems, providing a foundation for adaptive ionic and energy-harvesting devices.