Since the first synthetic macrocyclic receptors were shown to bind ions selectively, supramolecular host–guest chemistry has enabled the translation of molecular recognition events into physical signals. Early coupling of such receptors to ion-sensitive field-effect transistors established a bridge between supramolecular chemistry and solid-state electronics. Today, this bridge is rebuilt in iontronics, where ions carry information through nanoconfined media and ionic transport becomes highly sensitive to electrostatic gradients, surface charge, and surface molecular interactions. As a result, ionic flux can serve as an efficient transduction mechanism that responds precisely, reversibly, and rapidly to changes in the chemical environment. Within this regime, host–guest chemistry offers a powerful means to exert direct control over ionic behavior, allowing molecular recognition to modulate conductance, rectification, and ion selectivity, thereby conferring practical function to nanofluidic systems. This review highlights systems in which host molecules act as chemical actuators that modulate nanochannel surface chemistry, thereby regulating ionic flux and enabling reversible, tunable, and stimulus-responsive behaviors. We survey architectures in which crown ethers, calixcrowns, pillararenes, and related hosts are integrated into solid-state nanochannels, emphasizing representative achievements such as biological-level Na+/K+ selectivity in crown ether-based systems and nanomolar-level detection of ions using calixcrowns- and pillararene-functionalized nanochannels. Finally, we discuss how temperature, pH, light, and redox state act as external stimuli that reversibly switch between conductive states, yielding ion-selective platforms for sensing and ion sieving.
Parra et al. (2026) studied this question.