Autonomous Molecular Sensing with a Chemically Stateful Solid-State Nanopore

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Biophysics
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Solid-state nanopores offer direct electrical interfacing with biomolecules.
• Current nanopore technology primarily relies on external factors to control sensing states, limiting autonomous operation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an autonomous solid-state nanopore capable of self-regulating its sensing capabilities.
• To investigate the potential of a chemically stateful nanopore for molecular analysis and information processing.

Main Methods:

• Engineered a solid-state nanopore with voltage-driven precipitation and dissolution cycles to create transient conductive pathways.
• Applied a constant bias to induce reaction cycles, generating stochastic ionic spikes.
• Analyzed the distinct spike amplitudes, durations, and firing statistics produced by traversing nucleotides and amino acids.

Main Results:

• The autonomous nanopore demonstrated a chemically stateful behavior, with conductance reflecting its recent history.
• Successfully discriminated between four different nucleotides based on learned state-dependent fingerprints.
• Achieved quantitative readout of mixed nucleotide populations and extended discrimination to seven amino acids without active gating.

Conclusions:

• Repositioned the solid-state nanopore as a reaction-programmed molecular interface, integrating sensing, memory, and signal generation.
• Highlighted the potential for chemically dynamic nanoscale environments in advanced molecular analytics.
• Opened new avenues for iontronic information processing using autonomous nanopore systems.