(Invited) Nanofluidic Ion Transport in Carbon Nanotube Porin Channels

Extreme spatial confinement in narrow fluidic channels strongly influences their transport properties and enables unconventional selectivity mechanisms that can often mimic some of the selectivity and transport characteristics of biological membrane channels. More than any modern nanomaterial, carbon nanotubes have enabled experimental platforms that can recreate such extreme confinement in a channel with defined geometry and controllable electronic properties. I will discuss ion transport in canon nanotube porin channels and show how confinement phenomena, coupled with the different electronic effects in these channels can shape their transport properties and ion selectivity characteristics. Overall, these observations contribute to our understanding of nanoscale transport and pave the way for developing a new generation of precision separation platforms for biomedical and industrial use.