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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Fine-tuning the Size and Minimizing the Noise of Solid-state Nanopores
Published on: October 31, 2013
Timescales for relaxation to Boltzmann equilibrium in nanopores
Ho Sang Kwak1, Ernest F Hasselbrink
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, 188 Shinpyeong, Gumi, Gyeongbuk 730-701, South Korea.
Abstract:
In most models for electrokinetic phenomena at charged interfaces, Boltzmann equilibrium is assumed to be established. Here we show that a long nanopore with significant double layer overlap establishes equilibrium quite slowly and that centimeter-long nanopores can take O(10(5)) s to establish Boltzmann equilibrium. The timescale is determined not by diffusion across the double layer, but by diffusion or convective transport along the length of the pore to reservoirs at its ends. An "intermediate equilibrium" state described by Qu and Li (J. Colloid Interface Sci. 224 (2000) 397) may exist for times between the (fast) EDL establishment timescale and (slow) axial transport timescale.
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