Molecular Theory for Electrokinetic Transport in pH-Regulated Nanochannels

Journal Article · Tue Aug 19 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jz5013802· OSTI ID:1386329

Kong, Xian ^[1]; Jiang, Jian ^[2]; Lu, Diannan ^[3]; Liu, Zheng ^[3]; Wu, Jianzhong ^[2]

---

1. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Department of Mathematics, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States; Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Department of Mathematics, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Ion transport through nanochannels depends on various external driving forces as well as the structural and hydrodynamic inhomogeneity of the confined fluid inside of the pore. Conventional models of electrokinetic transport neglect the discrete nature of ionic species and electrostatic correlations important at the boundary and often lead to inconsistent predictions of the surface potential and the surface charge density. Here, we demonstrate that the electrokinetic phenomena can be successfully described by the classical density functional theory in conjunction with the Navier–Stokes equation for the fluid flow. The new theoretical procedure predicts ion conductivity in various pH-regulated nanochannels under different driving forces, in excellent agreement with experimental data.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE SC Office of Basic Energy Sciences (SC-22)
• OSTI ID: 1386329
• Journal Information: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 5; ISSN 1948-7185
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
catalysis (heterogeneous)
charge transport
electrodes - solar
energy storage (including batteries and capacitors)
hydrogen and fuel cells
materials and chemistry by design
mechanical behavior
solar (fuels)
synthesis (novel materials)