Effects of access resistance on the resistive-pulse caused by translocating of a nanoparticle through a nanopore

Abstract

Recent experimental studies showed that the access resistance (AR) of a nanopore with a low thickness-to-diameter aspect ratio plays an important role in particle translocation. The existing theories usually only consider the AR without the presence of particles in the pore systems. Based on the continuum model, we systematically investigate the current change caused by nanoparticle translocation in different nanopore configurations. From numerical results, an analytical model is proposed to estimate the influence of the AR on the resistive-pulse amplitude, i.e., the ratio of the AR to the pore resistance. The current change is first predicted by our model for nanoparticles and nanopores with a wide range of sizes at the neutral surface charge. Subsequently, the effect of surface charges is studied. The results show that resistive-pulse amplitude decreases with the increasing surface charge of the nanoparticle or the nanopore. We also find that the shape of the position-dependent resistive-pulse might be distorted significantly at low bulk concentration due to concentration polarization. This study provides a deep insight into the AR in particle-pore systems and could be useful in designing nanopore-based detection devices.