Selective Ion Capturing via Carbon Nanotubes Charging
Fecha
2022Disciplina/s
FarmaciaResumen
We present a phenomenon consisting of the
synergistic effects of a capacitive material, such as carbon
nanotubes (CNTs), and an ion-selective, thin-layer membrane.
CNTs can trigger a charge disbalance and propagate this effect into
a thin-layer membrane domain under mildly polarization
conditions. With the exceptional selectivity and the fast establishment
of new concentration profiles provided by the thin-layer
membrane, a selective ion capture from the solution is expected,
which is necessarily linked to the charge generation on the CNTs
lattice. As a proof-of-concept, we investigated an arrangement
based on a layer of CNTs modified with a nanometer-sized,
potassium-selective membrane to conform an actuator that is in contact with a thin-layer aqueous solution (thickness of 50 μm).
The potassium ion content was fixed in the solution (0.1−10 mM range), and the system was operated for 120 s at −400 mV (with
respect to the open circuit potential). A 10-fold decrease from th...