Electrokinetic Translocation of a Deformable Nanoparticle through a Nanopore

The nanopore-based biosensing technology is built up on the fluctuation of the ionic current induced by the electrokinetic translation of a particle penetrating the nanopore. It is expected that the current change of a deformable bioparticle is dissimilar from that of a rigid one. This study theoretically investigated the transient translocation process of a deformable particle through a nanopore for the first time. The mathematical model considers the Poisson equation for the electric potential, the Nernst-Planck equations for the ionic transport, the Navier-Stokes equations for the flow field, and the stress-strain equation for the dynamics of the deformable bioparticle. The arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian method is used for the fully coupled particle-fluid dynamic interaction. Results show that the deformation degree of the particle, the velocity deviation, and the current is different from the rigid particle. The deformation degree of the particle will reach the maximum when the particle passes a nanopore. Because of the deformation of particles, the total force applied on deformable particles is larger than that of rigid particles, resulting in larger velocity deviation and current deviation. The influences of the ratio of the nanoparticle radius to the Debye length and surface charge density of the nanopore are also studied. The research results illustrate the translocation mechanism of a deformable nanoparticle in the nanopore, which can provide theoretical guidance for the biosensing technology based on the nanopore.