Voltage-driven transport of double-stranded DNA through nanoscale pores holds much potential for applications in quantitative molecular biology and biotechnology, yet the microscopic details of translocation have proven to be challenging to decipher. Earlier experiments showed strong dependence of transport kinetics on pore size: fast regular transport in large pores (> 5 nm diameter), and slow...

Electrical double layer expansion (CDLE) has been proposed as a promising alternative to reverse electrodialysis (RED) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) processes for extracting osmotic power generated by the salinity difference between freshwater and seawater. The performance of the CDLE process is sensitive to the configuration of porous electrodes and operation parameters for ion extractio...

Biochar is a stable carbon-rich by-product synthesized through pyrolysis/carbonization of plant- and animal-based biomass. An increasing interest in the beneficial application of biochar has opened up multidisciplinary areas for science and engineering. The potential biochar applications include carbon sequestration, soil fertility improvement, pollution remediation, and agricultural by-product...

We report on the preparation of new hybrid organic– inorganic multiporous monolithic capillary columns carrying gold nanoparticles of 5, 10, 50, and 100 nm size and their use as flow-through catalytic platforms for aqueous liquid-phase reduction reactions. We found that the flow-through performance of the reactors depends not only on the size of the gold nanoparticles but also on the interplay ...

This paper presents an analytical study of electroosmotic (EO) pumps with porous pumping structures. We have developed an analytical model to solve for electroosmotic flow rate, pump current, and thermodynamic efficiency as a function of pump pressure load for porous-structure EO pumps. The model uses a symmetric electrolyte approximation valid for the high-zeta-potential regime and numerically...

Ordered macroporous organosilica materials with uniform pore size in the range of 0.2-1.35 [micro sign]m have been fabricated by using self-assembled colloidal crystals as templates, and characterized with SEM, TGA, FTIR, MAS NMR, and optical reflectance spectrometry.

Supercapacitors, based on fast ion transportation, are specialized to provide high power, long stability, and efficient energy storage using highly porous electrode materials. However, their low energy density excludes them from many potential applications that require both high energy density and high power density performances. Using a scalable nanoporous graphene synthesis method involving a...

We report a smart polymer membrane whose pore can be switched between the "closed" and "open" state just by passing CO2 and Ar in solution respectively. Compared with other stimuli, such as pH or temperature change, gas is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective stimulus for reversibly tuning the pore size and imparting the size selectivity of the membrane.

Optimized mesoporous photocatalyst endowed with high specific surface area and large pore size was synthesized by sol-gel method. These large pore mesoporous materials (33.39 nm) were conducive to the movement of larger molecules or groups in pore path and for effective use of active sites. The high specific surface area (SBET, 99.23 m(2) g(-1)) was beneficial to catalytic oxidation on the surf...

Graphene, 2D atomic-layer of sp2 carbon, has attracted a great deal of interest for use in solar cells, LEDs, electronic skin, touchscreens, energy storage devices, and microelectronics. This is due to excellent properties of graphene, such as a high theoretical surface area, electrical conductivity, and mechanical strength. The fundamental structure of graphene is also manipulatable, allowing ...