Bio-Inspired Tunable System Can Potentially Purify Water
Researchers have developed a tunable system that can enhance or limit chemical transport at the atomic scale, potentially creating a bio-inspired membrane capable of purifying and extracting water.
Composed of scientists from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, the team revealed in their published paper new insights into how ion transport functions. This research became possible with the creation of a new model from scratch by Qinsi Xiong, the study’s co-first author from Northwestern University.
From there, researchers discovered how a simple manipulation of certain ions can have a drastic effect on the flow of potassium ions through the channels, mimicking how proteins or biochemical “bouncers” found within every cell’s outer membranes work.
Mingzhan Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at UChicago, said:
“The most exciting part of our research is that we show how dramatically ion transport in angstrom-scale 2D channels can be changed in the presence of other ions, even a tiny fraction.”
Using Xiong’s model, the team learned that adding lead ions to the system increases the flow of potassium through the membrane. This is because lead ions bind to the channel walls and slow down the negatively charged chloride ions, causing them to move at the same speed as the positively charged potassium ions. Once the ions are moving at the same rate, they pair up to form neutral potassium chloride, which can pass through the membrane without impedance, increasing the overall flow of potassium.
George Schatz, a chemist from Northwestern University, said:
“Without a charge to interact with surroundings, the new molecule can flow more quickly through than would occur if the two ions were separately flowing through the channel.”
Meanwhile, adding a small amount of cobalt or barium ions to the system has the opposite effect, inhibiting the flow of potassium. This happens because these ions compete with lead for binding sites on the channel walls. By occupying these sites, the cobalt or barium ions prevent the lead ions from forming the neutral pairs that enhance transport.
The next step for the team is to test other materials to see what effect they have on ion transport. The researchers also want to find out if this method can control the flow of elements besides potassium.
Read the full article here to learn more about the bio-inspired membrane.
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