Transport of biomolecules in asymmetric nanofilter arrays

Autonomous pump against concentration gradient

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods, we have studied the molecular transport in asymmetric nanochannels. The efficiency of the molecular pump depends on the angle and apertures of the asymmetric channel, the environmental temperature and average concentration of the particles. The pumping effect can be explained as the competition between the molecular force field and the thermal disturbance. Our results provide a green approach for pumping fluid particles against the concentration gradient through asymmetric nanoscale thin films without any external forces. It indicates that pumping vacuum can be a spontaneous process.

High-throughput DNA separation in nanofilter arrays

We numerically investigated the dynamics of short double-stranded DNA molecules moving through a deep-shallow alternating nanofilter, by utilizing Brownian dynamics simulation. We propose a novel mechanism for high-throughput DNA separation with a high electric field, which was originally predicted by Laachi et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 2007, 98, 098106]. In this work, we show that DNA molecules deterministically move along different electrophoretic streamlines according to their length, owing to geometric constraint at the exit of the shallow region. Consequently, it is more probable that long DNA molecules pass over a deep well region without significant lateral migration toward the bottom of the deep well, which is in contrast to the long dwelling time for short DNA molecules. We investigated the dynamics of DNA passage through a nanofilter facilitating electrophoretic field kinematics. The statistical distribution of the DNA molecules according to their size clearly corroborates our assumption. On the other hand, it was also found that the tapering angle between the shallow and deep regions significantly affects the DNA separation performance. The current results show that the nonuniform field effect combined with geometric constraint plays a key role in nanofilter-based DNA separation. We expect that our results will be helpful in designing and operating nanofluidics-based DNA separation devices and in understanding the polymer dynamics in confined geometries.

Persistence of uphill anomalous transport in inhomogeneous media

For systems out of equilibrium and subjected to a static bias force it can often be expected that particle transport will usually follow the direction of this bias. However, counterexamples exist where particles exhibit uphill motion (known as absolute negative mobility, ANM), particularly in the case of coupled particles. Examples in single particle deterministic systems are less common. Recently, in one such example, uphill motion was shown to occur for an inertial driven and damped particle in a spatially symmetric periodic potential. The source of this anomalous transport was a combination of two periodic driving signals which together are asymmetric under time reversal. In this paper we investigate the phenomena of ANM for a deterministic particle evolving in a periodic and symmetric potential subjected to an external unbiased periodic driving and nonuniform space-dependent damping. It will be shown that this system exhibits a complicated response behavior as certain control parameters are varied, most notably being enhanced parameter regimes exhibiting ANM as the static bias force is increased. Moreover, the solutions exhibiting ANM are shown to be, at least over intermediate time periods, superdiffusive, in contrast to the solutions that follow the bias where the diffusion is normal.

Surfactant addition and alternating current electrophoretic oscillation during size fractionation of nanoparticles in channels with two or three different height segments

An array of parallel planar nanochannels containing two or three segments with varying inner heights was fabricated and used for size fractionation of inorganic and biological nanoparticles. A liquid suspension of the particles was simply drawn through the nanochannels via capillary action. Using fluorescently labeled 30 nm polyacrylonitrile beads, different trapping behaviors were compared using nanochannels with 200-45 nm and 208-54-30 nm height segments. Addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant to the liquid suspension and application of an AC electric field were shown to aid in the prevention of channel clogging. After initial particle trapping at the segment interfaces, significant particle redistribution occurred when applying a sinusoidal 8V peak-to-peak oscillating voltage with a frequency of 150 Hz and DC offset of 4V. Using the 208-54-30 nm channels, 30 nm hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsids were divided into three fractions. When the AC electric field was applied to this trapped sample, all of the virus particles passed through the interfaces and accumulated at the channel ends.

Dispersive transport of biomolecules in periodic energy landscapes with application to nanofilter sieving arrays

We present a theoretical model for describing the electric field-driven migration and dispersion of short anisotropic molecules in nanofluidic filter arrays. The model uses macrotransport theory to derive exact integral-form expressions for the effective mobility and diffusivity of Brownian particles moving in an effective one-dimensional energy landscape. The latter is obtained by modeling the anisotropic molecules as point-sized Brownian particles with their orientational degrees of freedom accounted for by an entropy penalty term, and using a systematic projection procedure for reducing the system dimensionality to the device axial dimension. Our analytical results provide guidance for the design and optimization of nanofluidic separation systems without the need for complex numerical simulations. Comparison with numerical solution of the macrotransport equations in the actual, effectively two-dimensional, geometry shows that the one-dimensional model faithfully describes the field- and size-dependences of mobility and diffusivity, with maximum difference on the order of 10% under the experimentally relevant electric fields.

Nanofluidic technology for biomolecule applications: a critical review

In this review, we present nanofluidic phenomena, particularly as they relate to applications involving analysis of biomolecules within nanofabricated devices. The relevant length scales and physical phenomena that govern biomolecule transport and manipulation within nanofabricated nanofluidic devices are reviewed, the advantages of nanofabricated devices are presented, and relevant applications are cited. Characteristic length scales include the Debye length, the Van der Waals radius, the action distance of hydrogen bonding, the slip length, and macromolecular dimensions. On the basis of the characteristic lengths and related nanofluidic phenomena, a nanofluidic toolbox will be assembled. Nanofluidic phenomena that affect biomolecule behavior within such devices can include ion depletion and enrichment, modified velocity and mobility, permselectivity, steric hindrance, entropy, adsorption, and hydrodynamic interaction. The complex interactions and coupled physics of such phenomena allow for many applications, including biomolecule separation, concentration, reaction/hybridization, sequencing (in the case of DNA) and detection. Examples of devices for such applications will be presented, followed by a discussion of near-term challenges and future thoughts for the field.

Analytical description of Ogston-regime biomolecule separation using nanofilters and nanopores

We present a theoretical model describing Ogston (pore size comparable to or larger than the characteristic molecular dimension) sieving of rigid isotropic and anisotropic biomolecules in nanofluidic molecular filter arrays comprising of alternating deep and shallow regions. Starting from a quasi-one-dimensional drift-diffusion description, which captures the interplay between the driving electric force, entropic barrier and molecular diffusion, we derive explicit analytical results for the effective mobility and trapping time. Our results elucidate the effects of field strength, device geometry and entropic barrier height, providing a robust tool for the design and optimization of nanofilter/nanopore systems. Specifically, we show that Ogston sieving becomes negligible when the length of shallow region becomes sufficiently small, mainly due to efficient diffusional transport through the short shallow region. Our theoretical results are in line with experimental observations and provide important design insight for nanofluidic systems.