Programmable ionic conductance in a pH-regulated gated nanochannel

Abstract

An analytical model for the ionic conductance in a pH-regulated nanochannel gated by a field effect transistor is derived for the first time. In contrast to the existing studies, the developed model takes into account the practical effects of multiple ionic species, surface chemistry reactions, the Stern layer, and electroosmotic flow. The model is validated by the experimental data of ionic conductance available in the literature. Results show that the performance of the field effect control of the ionic conductance in the gated silica nanochannel is remarkable when the solution pH and salt concentration are low. In addition, the Stern layer effect on the ionic conductance is significant when the salt concentration is low.