RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A nanofluidic ion regulation membrane with aligned cellulose nanofibers
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaau4238
DO 10.1126/sciadv.aau4238
VO 5
IS 2
A1 Li, Tian
A1 Li, Sylvia Xin
A1 Kong, Weiqing
A1 Chen, Chaoji
A1 Hitz, Emily
A1 Jia, Chao
A1 Dai, Jiaqi
A1 Zhang, Xin
A1 Briber, Robert
A1 Siwy, Zuzanna
A1 Reed, Mark
A1 Hu, Liangbing
YR 2019
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/2/eaau4238.abstract
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.