TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamic model of biomolecular diffusion through two-dimensional nanochannels
AU - Cosentino, Carlo
AU - Amato, Francesco
AU - Walczak, Robbie
AU - Boiarski, Anthony
AU - Ferrari, Manro
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/4/21
Y1 - 2005/4/21
N2 - The molecular diffusion dynamics in unconstrained cases has been studied thoroughly during the last two centuries, leading to the well-known Fick's diffusion laws and Stokes-Einstein equation. More recently, a new impulse to the study of this topic has been provided by the necessity of understanding the behavior of solute particles in the presence of environmental constraints of size comparable to the molecular dimensions. In this work, we investigate the diffusion kinetics of biomolecules, such as bovine scrum albumin, interferon, and lysozyme, through microfabricated silicon membranes, having pores of nanometric size in only one dimension, in the range from few to tens of nanometers (the other dimensions are in the μm range). Experimental results show that the diffusion profiles, in some cases, deviate substantially from those predicted by Fick's laws. In light of these results, a new diffusion mathematical model is proposed, which can reasonably explain the phenomenon and, at the same time, recovers the classical diffusion laws in the unconstrained case. Moreover, a physical description, derived from van der Waals equation of state, is presented, and it is compared with the results obtained by the mathematical model.
AB - The molecular diffusion dynamics in unconstrained cases has been studied thoroughly during the last two centuries, leading to the well-known Fick's diffusion laws and Stokes-Einstein equation. More recently, a new impulse to the study of this topic has been provided by the necessity of understanding the behavior of solute particles in the presence of environmental constraints of size comparable to the molecular dimensions. In this work, we investigate the diffusion kinetics of biomolecules, such as bovine scrum albumin, interferon, and lysozyme, through microfabricated silicon membranes, having pores of nanometric size in only one dimension, in the range from few to tens of nanometers (the other dimensions are in the μm range). Experimental results show that the diffusion profiles, in some cases, deviate substantially from those predicted by Fick's laws. In light of these results, a new diffusion mathematical model is proposed, which can reasonably explain the phenomenon and, at the same time, recovers the classical diffusion laws in the unconstrained case. Moreover, a physical description, derived from van der Waals equation of state, is presented, and it is compared with the results obtained by the mathematical model.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=18144363972&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=18144363972&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/jp045478u
DO - 10.1021/jp045478u
M3 - Article
C2 - 16851842
AN - SCOPUS:18144363972
SN - 1520-6106
VL - 109
SP - 7358
EP - 7364
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
IS - 15
ER -