A nanofluidic ion regulation membrane with aligned cellulose nanofibers.

ABSTRACT: The advancement of nanofluidic applications will require the identification of materials with high-conductivity nanoscale channels that can be readily obtained at massive scale. Inspired by the transpiration in mesostructured trees, we report a nanofluidic membrane consisting of densely packed cellulose nanofibers directly derived from wood. Numerous nanochannels are produced among an expansive array of one-dimensional cellulose nanofibers. The abundant functional groups of cellulose enable facile tuning of the surface charge density via chemical modification. The nanofiber-nanofiber spacing can also be tuned from ~2 to ~20 nm by structural engineering. The surface-charge-governed ionic transport region shows a high ionic conductivity plateau of ~2 mS cm^-1 (up to 10 mM). The nan

SUBMITTER: Li T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6386557 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature