Mechanosensitive ion transport in hexagonal boron nitride nanopores

In biological systems, mechanical strain can trigger strong changes in ion conductance and signaling, yet in synthetic nanopores, achieving similar mechanosensitive behavior has been a significant challenge. Here, we demonstrate that subtle mechanical strain can induce strong modulation of ionic current in small hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanopores. Using hydrostatic pressure to apply small lateral strain to free-standing single-layer h-BN membranes featuring triangular sub-1-nm nanopores, we observed ion conductance modulation exceeding 1 30% under 0.5% strain. We attribute this response to the strain-dependent interplay of ionpore and ion-water interactions within the nanopore. The measured mechanosensitivity values also agreed strongly with those obtained from modeling of strain-tunable transport in ensembles of h-BN nanopores. These findings establish a framework for developing strain-responsive membranes for applications in molecular separations and sensing.