• Chemistry-powered membrane autonomously opens and closes nanoscale pores, mimicking biological ion channels. • Pores are fabricated at angstrom-scale widths, matching the size of individual atoms. • Precise nanofabrication remains challenging due to reproducibility and extreme size constraints. • The membrane’s breathing mechanism offers potential for selective ion transport in devices. • This innovation could advance biosensing, filtration, and energy storage technologies.
Article Summaries:
- Ion channels are narrow passageways that play a pivotal role in many biological processes. To model how ions move through these tight spaces, pores need to be fabricated at very small length scales. The narrowest regions of ion channels can be just a few angstroms wide, about the size of individual atoms, making reproducible and precise fabrication a major challenge in modern nanotechnology.
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