Confinement-controlled rectification in a geometric nanofluidic diode

Recent experiments with electrolytes driven through conical nanopores give evidence of strong rectified current response. In such devices, the asymmetry in the confinement is responsible for the non-Ohmic response, suggesting that the interplay of entropic and enthalpic forces plays a major role. He...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Dal Cengio, Sara, Pagonabarraga Mora, Ignacio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/148931
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/148931
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Nanofluids
Díodes
Diodes
Descripción
Sumario:Recent experiments with electrolytes driven through conical nanopores give evidence of strong rectified current response. In such devices, the asymmetry in the confinement is responsible for the non-Ohmic response, suggesting that the interplay of entropic and enthalpic forces plays a major role. Here, we propose a theoretical model to shed light on the physical mechanism underlying ionic current rectification. By use of an effective description of the ionic dynamics, we explore the system's response in different electrostatic regimes. We show that the rectification efficiency, as well as the channel selectivity, is driven by the surface-to-bulk conductivity ratio Dukhin length rather than the electrical double layer overlap.