(353c) Biomimetic Membrane Systems Utilizing CNT Nanofluidics

Carbon nanotubes have three key attributes that make them of great interest for novel membrane applications  1) atomically flat graphite surface allows for ideal fluid slip boundary conditions and extremely fast flow rates 2) the cutting process to open CNTs inherently places functional chemistry at CNT core entrance for chemical selectivity and  3) CNT are electrically conductive allowing for electrochemical reactions and application of electric fields gradients at CNT tips.  In general, the transport mechanisms through CNT membrane are a) ionic diffusion is near bulk expectation with no enhancement from CNT  b) gas flow is enhanced by ~1-2 order of magnitude due to specular reflection off of flat graphitic surface c) and pressure driven flux of a variety of solvents (H2O, hexane, decane ethanol, methanol) are 4-5 orders of magnitude higher than conventional Newtonian flow [Nature 2005, 438, 44] due to atomically flat graphite planes inducing nearly ideal slip conditions.  Nearly all applications require chemical selectivity in what is allowed to pass across the membrane. However the act of placing selective functional chemistry at pore entrance or along the core of CNTs, dramatically/completely eliminates the enhanced flow effects by eliminating the near perfect slip boundary condition [ACS Nano 2011 5 3867].  Needed is a mechanism to pump chemicals through the pore where the selective chemistry is.  This is routinely achieved in protein channels where permeates are accelerated through regions of precise functionality.  Also introduced here are biomimetic platforms using sequential enzymatic flow reactors, nanobubble valves for energy storage and monolayer catalytic reactors.