Photoresponsive Solid Nanochannels Membranes: Design and Applications

Abstract

Biological channels have fundamental roles in the metabolism of organisms by precisely regulating the transport of molecules and ions, which is necessary to maintain the normal activity of the living body. [1,2] A typical example of biological channelrhodopsins that serve as sensory photoreceptors would function as a signal transmission medium. [1] Inspired by biological channels, scientists have built various artificial solid Light stimuli have notable advantages over other environmental stimuli, such as more precise spatial and temporal regulation, and the ability to serve as an energy source to power the system. In nature, photoresponsive nanochannels are important components of organisms, with examples including the rhodopsin channels in optic nerve cells and photoresponsive protein channels in the photosynthesis system of plants. Inspired by biological channels, scientists have constructed various photoresponsive, smart solidstate nanochannels membranes for a range of applications. In this review, the methods and applications of photosensitive nanochannels membranes are summarized. The authors believe that this review will inspire researchers to further develop multifunctional artificial nanochannels for applications in the fields of biosensors, stimuli-responsive smart devices, and nanofluidic devices, among others.

Photoswitchable Nanoporous Metal–Organic Framework Monolayer Film for Light-Gated Ion Nanochannel

“…In living organisms, many biological processes are closely related to light, such as photosynthesis and the visual perception system, most of which are dominated by light-sensitive protein ion channels. , Protein ion channels can achieve ion selectivity, ion rectification, and ion pump properties only when embedded in phospholipid bilayers, which are very fragile in an in vitro environment . As a result, biomimetic smart solid-state nanochannels with light response have received extensive attention . These light-responsive solid-state nanochannels not only have excellent mechanical and chemical stability but also exhibit flexible spatial and temporal controllability, which show great application prospects in the fields of nanofluids, energy storage and conversion, and biosensors .…”

Light‐Controlled Ionic/Molecular Transport through Solid‐State Nanopores and Nanochannels

“…The construction of photo-responsive nanochannels with different materials have been described previously and will not be discussed herein. [77][78][79] In this review, we present the overview of the ion transport through the light-controlled biomimetic solid-state nanopores and nanochannels with different dimensions, which can be generally classified into two categories: light-regulated ion channels and light-driven ion pumps, as shown in Figure 1. The light-regulated solid-state ion channels exhibit similar ion transport properties as the biological protein pores, such as ion selectivity, gating and rectification.…”

“…Meanwhile, the light source can be operated conveniently as a remote and non‐contacting approach to reduce the invasiveness for the targeted objects. The construction of photo‐responsive nanochannels with different materials have been described previously and will not be discussed herein [77–79] …”

Light-responsive nanochannels based on the supramolecular host–guest system

“…Scientists have successfully built a variety of stimulus-responsive biomimetic nanochannels, such as light ( Ali et al, 2012 ), pH ( Zhang et al, 2016 ), temperature ( Wang R. et al, 2017 ), electric potential ( Liu et al, 2016 ), magnetic ( Chang et al, 2020 ), and others ( Cao et al, 2021 ). Comparatively, light stimulation has benefits of non-invasiveness, accuracy, easy operation, and repeatable stimulus-response ( Cheng et al, 2022 ) than others. Moreover, light stimulation can be applied at a selective location with control on intensity and illumination time; this can induce conformational changes ( Xiao et al, 2016a ).…”