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Research Article | Open Access

Dynamic liquid film nanochannels for adjustable ion and molecule transport

Chunxiao Liang1,2, Dianyu Wang3, Zhe Xu1, Haitao Deng1,2, Fan Xia4, Ye Tian1,2,5,6( )
Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Materials and Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, Engineering Research Center of Nano-Geomaterials of Ministry of Education, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123, China
Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
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Graphical Abstract

Multiscale gating systems have broad applications in drug delivery, microreactors, sieving, biosensing, and other related fields. We construct dynamic liquid film nanochannels within an oil–water–solid system, which is reconfigurable, low-cost, and easy to fabricate. Multiscale gating can be achieved by positioning the oil droplet within regions of varying wettability in the capillary.

Abstract

Gating, a fundamental feature of biological nanochannels, enables the intelligent regulation of ion and molecule transport in response to specific requirements. Inspired by nature, numerous artificial gating systems have been researched through the functionalization of solid-state nanochannels. However, these gating systems typically allow only two transitions: “open” and “closed”, which makes it challenging to achieve multi-state transport. Herein, we construct dynamic liquid film nanochannels (DLFNs) by inserting an oil droplet into a capillary with gradient wettability that is filled with ionic solutions. The liquid film, formed between the oil and the capillary, functions as a nanochannel for ion and molecule transport, with its height dynamically adjusted through the capillary's gradient wettability. At a deeper level, the variations in liquid film thickness are driven by the interfacial water structure, which is mediated by hydrogen bonding interactions. Furthermore, unlike traditional solid-state nanochannels, which involve two phases (liquid/solid), the properties of DLFNs are influenced by three phases (oil/water/solid), resulting in distinct performance characteristics, such as reconfigurability, low cost, and ease of fabrication. This work provides an avenue for designing dynamic nanofluids and may spark promising applications of DLFNs with multiscale gating properties in drug delivery, microreactors, sieving, biosensing, and other related fields.

Keywords

dynamic liquid filmnanochannelgatingwettabilityoil–water–solid interface

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Nano Research
Volume 18 Issue 3,
March 2025
Article number: 94907256
DOI: 10.26599/NR.2025.94907256
Cite this article:
Liang C, Wang D, Xu Z, et al. Dynamic liquid film nanochannels for adjustable ion and molecule transport. Nano Research, 2025, 18(3): 94907256. https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907256

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Received: 11 December 2024
Revised: 07 January 2025
Accepted: 13 January 2025
Published: 03 March 2025
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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