Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 31, 2026
08:57
Scalable Syntheses of Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide using Cascade Design Oxidation and Highly Basic Reduction Reactions
Published on: July 3, 2025
2.0K
Heterogeneous graphene oxide membrane for rectified ion transport
Wenwen Fei1, Minmin Xue, Hu Qiu
1State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Key Laboratory for Intelligent Nano Materials and Devices of the MOE, Institute of Nano Science, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China. wlguo@nuaa.edu.cn.
Nanoscale
|January 4, 2019
Summary
This study demonstrates heterogeneous graphene oxide membranes for controlled ion transport. These membranes exhibit highly rectified ion flow, paving the way for advanced ionic rectifiers.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Ion transport in nanoconfinement is vital for biological systems and emerging technologies like iontronics and biosensing.
- Graphene oxide (GO) membranes offer tunable nanochannels but typically show ohmic ion transport due to homogeneity.
- This limits their application in areas requiring controlled ion flow.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop heterogeneous graphene oxide membranes for voltage-driven ion transport.
- To investigate the ion transport rectification behavior in these novel membranes.
- To explore methods for enhancing ion transport control using charge asymmetry.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of heterogeneous GO membranes using negatively-charged GO and positively-charged PEI-grafted GO laminates.
- Experimental characterization of ion transport properties under voltage bias.
- Molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate ion behavior within the nanochannels.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated highly rectified ion transport through the heterogeneous GO membranes.
- Observed enhanced rectification performance by adjusting pH to strengthen charge asymmetry.
- Molecular dynamics simulations revealed the underlying mechanisms of ion transport control.
Conclusions:
- Heterogeneous GO membranes enable voltage-driven, rectified ion transport.
- Charge asymmetry is a key factor in controlling ion flow and enhancing rectification.
- This work presents a new paradigm for GO membranes in ion transport control and ionic rectifier applications.
Related Concept Videos
01:17Pore Transport and Ion-Pair Transport
1.3K
Pore transport and ion-pair formation are critical mechanisms for the absorption and distribution of drugs in the body.
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct...
Pore transport, also known as convective transport, is a process where small molecules like urea, water, and sugars rapidly cross cell membranes as though there were channels or pores in the membrane. Although direct microscopic evidence is limited but the concept of pores or channels is widely accepted based on physiological evidence. Despite the lack of direct...
1.3K
01:31Membrane Transporters
18.1K
Transporters are essential membrane transport proteins with functions related to cell nutrition, homeostasis, communication, etc. Approximately 7% of all genes in the human genome code for transporters or transporter-related proteins.
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
18.1K
01:44The Significance of Membrane Transport
41.7K
The transport of solutes across the cell membrane is essential for metabolic processes, like maintaining cell size and volume, generating the action potential, exchanging nutrients and gases, etc. Membrane transport can be either passive or active. It can be simple diffusion, facilitated, or mediated transport aided by transport proteins such as transporters and channels.
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
41.7K
01:28Electron Transport Chains
112.1K
The final stage of cellular respiration is oxidative phosphorylation that consists of two steps: the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis. The electron transport chain is a set of proteins found in the inner mitochondrial membrane in eukaryotic cells. Its primary function is to establish a proton gradient that can be used during chemiosmosis to produce ATP and generate electron carriers, such as NAD+ and FAD, that are used in glycolysis and the citric acid cycle.
The ETC is comprised of...
The ETC is comprised of...
112.1K
01:24Bridge rectifier
1.5K
The bridge rectifier is essential in electronics for efficiently converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). Comprised of four diodes configured in a bridge layout, this rectifier effectively processes both the positive and negative halves of the AC waveform, making it superior to half-wave and full-wave center-tapped rectifiers in terms of voltage regulation and output stability.
Operationally, the bridge rectifier allows current flow through two of its diodes during each...
Operationally, the bridge rectifier allows current flow through two of its diodes during each...
1.5K
01:24Cellular Membranes and Drug Transport
1.5K
Drugs must traverse multiple biological barriers, such as multi-layered skin, single-layered intestinal epithelium, and the plasma membrane, to reach their target sites within the body. The plasma membrane, a highly structured composite of phospholipids, carbohydrates, and proteins, is the cell's protective boundary, facilitating selective substance exchange.
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
Phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer, with hydrophilic heads oriented outward and hydrophobic tails facing inward.
1.5K