纳米流体通道的制备及其应用研究进展

Research progress in fabrication of nanofluidic channels and applications

纳米流体是指流体在特征尺寸小于100 nm的通道或孔中流动呈现超快水运输、表面电荷控制离子传输等独特的物理行为。该现象的有效利用在生物、能源相关领域展现出巨大的潜力,因而引起人们的广泛关注。近年来,随着纳米流体通道制造技术的飞速发展,利用其进行能源转化取得了空前的增长。本文综述了纳米流体通道的主要制备方法,介绍基于纳米光刻、微电子机械系统技术(MEMS)、纳米材料三类常规制备策略以及其他非常规纳米流体通道制备方法,随后讨论了纳米流体通道在盐差能转换、刺激相应门控、离子检测、单分子传感、海水淡化领域的重要应用研究,最后,对当前利用纳米流体材料的制备方法及未来研究方向面临的挑战和机遇进行讨论,比如高成本、可靠性和稳定性有待提高等。

Nanofluidics is the study on the behavior of fluid flow in a nanoscale-confined channel with at least one characteristic dimension smaller than 100 nm.Nanofluidics can exhibit unique physical phenomena such as ultrafast water transport,surface charges control ion transport that cannot be observed at microscales or in bulk structures.A significant growth of attention in nanofluidics was achieved due to the representative phenomena and effects,which make them potentially useful in osmosis energy generation,nanofluidic diodes or transistors,desalination,biology,and other applications.In the past few years,the fabricating nanofluidic channels is burgeoning throughout the globe and can be widely used for energy conversion due to the rapid advancement of micro-and nanotechnology.This review mainly focused on the research progress of the nanofabrication methods of nanofluidic channels,including nanolithography,microelectromechanical system(MEMS)based techniques,nanofluidic channels based on nanomaterials,and other natural nanofluidic materials.The preparation methods including electron beam lithography,focused ion beam lithography,scanning probe lithography,extreme ultraviolet lithography,interference lithography,and sacrificial layer releasing were discussed in detail.The advantages and disadvantages of each nanofabrication method were pointed out.Following that,the recent application progress of nanofluidics from five aspects was summarized:in salt differenatial energy conversion,responsive ionic gate,sensors of ion detection,sensing of single molecules,and water desalination.Finally,the current challenges were discussed,and the fantastic opportunities and perspectives in the fabrication of nanofluidic channels were prospected,such as high cost,reliability and stability need to beimproved,etc.