Issue 3, 2023

Current rectification by nanoparticles in bipolar nanopores

Abstract

Bipolar nanochannels comprising two domains of positively and negatively charged walls along the pore axis are known to rectify current when exposed to an electric potential bias. We find that addition of charged nanoparticles can increase rectification considerably, by approximately one order of magnitude. Two bipolar channel geometries are considered here; their behavior is examined at rest and under the influence of a negative bias and a positive bias, respectively. We do so by relying on a molecular-level model of the electrolyte solution in the channels. The large increase in current rectification can be explained by the inherent electric field that charged nanoparticles generate within the channel. This effect is found to be largely dependent on the pore's geometry, its charge distribution, and the sign of the nanoparticles' charge, thereby offering new opportunities for design of engineered nanopore membrane-nanoparticle systems for energy storage.

Graphical abstract: Current rectification by nanoparticles in bipolar nanopores

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Sept. 2022
Accepted
11 Okt. 2022
First published
25 Okt. 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 2023,8, 289-299

Current rectification by nanoparticles in bipolar nanopores

A. Córdoba, J. M. Montes de Oca, J. Dhanasekaran, S. B. Darling and J. J. de Pablo, Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 2023, 8, 289 DOI: 10.1039/D2ME00187J

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