Improved ionic current rectification utilizing cylindrical nanochannels coated with polyelectrolyte layers of non-uniform thickness

Abstract

Conical nanochannels employed to create ionic current rectification (ICR) in nanofluidic devices are prone to clogging due to the contraction at one end. As an alternative approach for creating ICR, a cylindrical nanochannel covered with a polyelectrolyte layer (PEL) of variable thickness is proposed in the present study. The efficacy of the proposed design is studied by numerically solving the governing equations including the Poisson, Nernst–Planck, and Stokes–Brinkman equations. Furthermore, the fundamental mechanism behind ICR is explained using a simplified one-dimensional model. The effects of the nanochannel radius, concentration of PEL fixed charges, and bulk ionic concentration on the rectification factor are then investigated in detail. It is shown that the proposed nanochannel provides larger rectification factors as compared to conical nanochannels over wide ranges of the fixed charge concentration and bulk ionic concentration. Such a performance can be achieved even at channel radii much larger than the tip radius of conical nanochannels, indicating not only the better performance of the proposed nanochannel but also its likely longer service life, because of reducing the probability of total ionic current blockage. This means that the proposed nanochannel could find widespread use in fluidic devices, as a replacement for conical nanofluidic diodes.