Mechanistic Study of the Conductance and Enhanced Single-Molecule Detection in a Polymer-Electrolyte Nanopore.

ABSTRACT: Solid-state nanopores have been widely employed in the detection of biomolecules, but low signal-to-noise ratios still represent a major obstacle in the discrimination of nucleic acid and protein sequences substantially smaller than the nanopore diameter. The addition of 50% poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG) to the external solution is a simple way to enhance the detection of such biomolecules. Here, we demonstrate with finite-element modeling and experiments that the addition of PEG to the external solution introduces a strong imbalance in the transport properties of cations and anions, drastically affecting the current response of the nanopore. We further show that the strong asymmetric current response is due to a polarity-dependent ion distribution and transport at the nanopipette tip region

SUBMITTER: Marcuccio F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10119975 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature