Ionic transport phenomena in nanofluidics: experimental and theoretical study of the exclusion-enrichment effect on a chip

Nano Lett. 2005 Jun;5(6):1147-55. doi: 10.1021/nl050265h.

Abstract

In nanometer-sized apertures with charged surfaces, the extension of the electrical double layer results in the electrostatic exclusion of co-ions and enrichment in counterions, which affects the permselectivity of such structures. A modeling of this phenomenon is proposed and is compared with quantitative measurements of the ionic permeability change of a Pyrex nanoslit at low ionic strength. The comparison of experimental results with theoretical predictions justifies that electrostatic forces are the governing forces in nanofluidics.