Dehydration as a Universal Mechanism for Ion Selectivity in Graphene and Other Atomically Thin Pores.

ABSTRACT: Ion channels play a key role in regulating cell behavior and in electrical signaling. In these settings, polar and charged functional groups, as well as protein response, compensate for dehydration in an ion-dependent way, giving rise to the ion selective transport critical to the operation of cells. Dehydration, though, yields ion-dependent free-energy barriers and thus is predicted to give rise to selectivity by itself. However, these barriers are typically so large that they will suppress the ion currents to undetectable levels. Here, we establish that graphene displays a measurable dehydration-only mechanism for selectivity of K⁺ over Cl^-. This fundamental mechanism, one that depends only on the geometry and hydration, is the starting point for selectivity for all

SUBMITTER: Sahu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5614503 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature