Nanopores are molecular-scale holes in insulating membranes that can be adapted to a number of single-molecule sensing, characterization and manipulation schemes. Most frequently, nanopore membranes are immersed in electrolyte solutions and the passage of analyte molecules through the typical <10nm pore diameter and <100nm length is detected through perturbations of the ionic current through the pore. On this length scale, the size, shape and surface chemistry of the nanopore are key determinants of the performance of nanopore methods. These factors dictate the feasible experimental implementation, and determine the signal and the likelihood of molecular interactions at the constrained nanopore-solution interface. The conductance of a nanopore can be used as a sensitive probe of both nanopore geometry and surface chemistry, and we present results in which conductance changes following nanopore surface chemical modification can be used to characterize the structure and chemistry of this interface.

Using conductance to characterize surface-coated, single-molecule nanopore sensor interfaces

245th National Meeting (2013)

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