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Nano Research 2015, 8(4): 1128-1138 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0593-x
Research Article | Issue | Published: 07 November 2014

Diffusive transport of two charge equivalent and structurally similar ruthenium complex ions through graphene oxide membranes

Show Author's Information Michael Coleman1,  Xiaowu (Shirley) Tang1,2( )
Department of Chemistry200 University Ave West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1Canada
Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology200 University Ave West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1Canada
Keywords:
graphene oxide, ion transport, hindered diffusion, nanofluidics
Cite this article:
Coleman M, Tang X(. Diffusive transport of two charge equivalent and structurally similar ruthenium complex ions through graphene oxide membranes. Nano Research, 2015, 8(4): 1128-1138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0593-x
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Here, we report a study of ion transport across graphene oxide (GO) membranes of various thicknesses, made by vacuum filtration of GO aqueous solutions. The diffusive transport rates of two charge-equivalent ruthenium complex ions Ru(bpy)3 2+ and Ru(phen)3 2+, with a sub-angstrom size difference, are distinguishable through GO membranes and their ratio can be a unique tool for probing the transport-relevant pore structures. Pore and slit-dominant hindered diffusion models are presented and correlated to experimental results. Our analysis suggests that ion transport is mostly facilitated by large pores (larger than 1.75 nm in diameter) in the relatively thin GO membranes, while slits formed by GO stacking (less than 1.42 nm in width) become dominant only in thick membranes. By grafting PEG molecules to the lateral plane of GO sheets, membranes with enlarged interlayer spacing were engineered, which showed drastically increased ion transport rates and lower distinction among the two ruthenium complex ions, consistent with the prediction by the slit-dominant steric hindered diffusion model.


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About this article

Diffusive transport of two charge equivalent and structurally similar ruthenium complex ions through graphene oxide membranes

Show Author's information Michael Coleman1, Xiaowu (Shirley) Tang1,2( )
Department of Chemistry200 University Ave West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1Canada
Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology200 University Ave West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1Canada

Abstract

Here, we report a study of ion transport across graphene oxide (GO) membranes of various thicknesses, made by vacuum filtration of GO aqueous solutions. The diffusive transport rates of two charge-equivalent ruthenium complex ions Ru(bpy)3 2+ and Ru(phen)3 2+, with a sub-angstrom size difference, are distinguishable through GO membranes and their ratio can be a unique tool for probing the transport-relevant pore structures. Pore and slit-dominant hindered diffusion models are presented and correlated to experimental results. Our analysis suggests that ion transport is mostly facilitated by large pores (larger than 1.75 nm in diameter) in the relatively thin GO membranes, while slits formed by GO stacking (less than 1.42 nm in width) become dominant only in thick membranes. By grafting PEG molecules to the lateral plane of GO sheets, membranes with enlarged interlayer spacing were engineered, which showed drastically increased ion transport rates and lower distinction among the two ruthenium complex ions, consistent with the prediction by the slit-dominant steric hindered diffusion model.

Keywords: graphene oxide, ion transport, hindered diffusion, nanofluidics

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 30 July 2014
Revised: 16 September 2014
Accepted: 19 September 2014
Published: 07 November 2014
Issue date: April 2015

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This research is financially supported by a Discovery grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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