Ion Gating in Nanopore Electrode Arrays with Hierarchically Organized pH-Responsive Block Copolymer Membranes

NEA nanopores. Such selectively transported and confined ions are detected by using a 100 nm gap dual-ring nanoelectrode structure capable of enhancing current output by efficient redox cycling with an amplification factor >102. In addition, BCP@NEAs exhibit extraordinary pH-gated ion selectivity, resulting in a 3380-fold current difference between anion and cation probes at pH 3.0. This hierarchically organized BCP-gated NEA system can serve as a template for the development of other stimulus-responsive ion gates, for example, those based on temperature and ligand gating, thus exploiting the intrinsic advantages of NEAs, such as enhanced sensitivity based on redox cycling, which may lead to technological applications such as engineered biosensors and iontronic devices.