PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Li, Tian
AU  - Li, Sylvia Xin
AU  - Kong, Weiqing
AU  - Chen, Chaoji
AU  - Hitz, Emily
AU  - Jia, Chao
AU  - Dai, Jiaqi
AU  - Zhang, Xin
AU  - Briber, Robert
AU  - Siwy, Zuzanna
AU  - Reed, Mark
AU  - Hu, Liangbing
TI  - A nanofluidic ion regulation membrane with aligned cellulose nanofibers
AID  - 10.1126/sciadv.aau4238
DP  - 2019 Feb 01
TA  - Science Advances
PG  - eaau4238
VI  - 5
IP  - 2
4099  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaau4238.short
4100  - http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaau4238.full
SO  - Sci Adv2019 Feb 01; 5
AB  - The advancement of nanofluidic applications will require the identification of materials with high-conductivity nanoscale channels that can be readily obtained at massive scale. Inspired by the transpiration in mesostructured trees, we report a nanofluidic membrane consisting of densely packed cellulose nanofibers directly derived from wood. Numerous nanochannels are produced among an expansive array of one-dimensional cellulose nanofibers. The abundant functional groups of cellulose enable facile tuning of the surface charge density via chemical modification. The nanofiber-nanofiber spacing can also be tuned from ~2 to ~20 nm by structural engineering. The surface-charge-governed ionic transport region shows a high ionic conductivity plateau of ~2 mS cm−1 (up to 10 mM). The nanofluidic membrane also exhibits excellent mechanical flexibility, demonstrating stable performance even when the membrane is folded 150°. Combining the inherent advantages of cellulose, this novel class of membrane offers an environmentally responsible strategy for flexible and printable nanofluidic applications.