A biomimetic asymmetric responsive single nanochannel.

Artificial single nanochannels have emerged as possible candidates for mimicking the process of ionic transport in ion channels and boosting the development of bioinspired intelligent nanomachines for real-world applications, such as biosensors, molecular filtration, and nanofluidic devices. One challenge that remains is to make the artificial nanochannel "smart", with various functions like an organism in Nature. The components of ion channels are asymmetrically distributed between membrane surfaces, which are significant for the implementation of the complex biological function. Inspired by this natural asymmetrical design, here we develop a biomimetic asymmetric responsive single nanochannel system that displays the advanced feature of providing control over pH- and temperature-tunable asymmetric ionic transport properties through asymmetric modifications inside the single nanochannels, which could be considered as a primal platform for the simulation of different ionic transport processes as well as the enhancement of the functionality of ion channels.