To develop nanomaterials with controlled molecular transport, free-standing membranes (nanofrits) were prepared from colloidal solutions of nanospheres followed by an appropriate surface-modification.   In one system, silica nanofits with varying nanopore size were evaluated for biomolecular separations. The fluxes of several generations of dendrimers were investigated in a proof-of-principle experiment to demonstrate the size-selectivity of our materials. For the protein diffusion studies, PEG chains were grafted onto the nanopore surface to minimize biofouling. A second system consisting of gold-coated nanofrits with a weak polyelectrolyte brush was investigated for the transport of neutral and charged molecules. These pH- and ion-responsive brushes on the surface of the nanopores also exhibited variable degrees of swelling in response to cations in solution, thereby altering the nanopore size and charge.  The third system was prepared by installing chiral recognition sites onto silica surfaces to prefer transport of one enantiomer of a diffusion probe through the nanopores.

Size-, charge- and chiral-selective transport through colloidal nanofrits

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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