(42ak) Diffusiophoresis of a pH-Regulated Polyelectrolyte in a Nanopore of Nonunifrom Cross Section

Diffusiophoresis
of a pH-Regulated Polyelectrolyte in a Nanopore of Nonunifrom Cross Section

Chun-Yuan
Su,¹ Jyh-Ping Hsu,^1,* Shiojenn Tseng^2,*

¹Department
of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 10617 ²Department
of Mathematics, Tamkang University, Tamsui, Taipei, Taiwan 25137

Tel:
886-2-23637448, Fax: 886-2-23623040, E-mail: jphsu@ntu.edu.tw

Abstract

   The
diffusiophoresis of a pH-regulated polyelectrolyte (PE) along the axis of a
charged, nanopore having nonuniform cross section is modeled, aimed with improving
the performance of a nanopore-based sensing device for single biomolecules such
as DNAs and proteins. Previous analysis based on a rigid particle of constant
charge density in a solution containing binary ionic species is extended to a porous,
pH-regulated PE in a solution containing multiple ionic species so that the
conditions considered are much closer to reality. The behavior of the PE under
various conditions is simulated by varying its charge, relative size, and position
in the nanopore, the solution pH, and the background salt concentration. We
show that the PE translocation velocity can be regulated by the pore width and its
charged conditions. In particular, both the magnitude and the direction of the translocation
velocity can be adjusted.

* Corresponding authors' e-mail: jphsu@ntu.edu.tw (J.P. Hsu), topology@mail.tku.edu.tw (S. Tseng)