CAREER: Nanoporous Ionic Diodes and Ionic Transistors

加州大学欧文分校（University of California, Irvine）的Siwy教授和她的团队将研究单个纳米孔，即直径比人类头发厚度小10万的“孔”。在美国国家科学基金会化学部分析和表面化学项目的支持下，Siwy教授和他的同事们正在解决一些问题，以了解离子和带电分子通过纳米孔的传输，纳米孔的几何形状和表面特征将被完全控制。纳米孔的输运性质与微米孔的输运性质有很大不同。这是因为增加的表面体积比使通过纳米孔的离子和分子受到孔壁性质的强烈影响。研究人员将研究传输离子与孔壁的相互作用，并研究纳米孔结构与其传输特性之间的关系。将开发新的方法来设计纳米孔的表面电荷，从而最大限度地控制离子传输。该项目的成功将导致新的和改进的设备的发展，这些设备将适用于生物传感、芯片实验室和纳米流体系统。该项目将帮助我们了解离子和带电分子与纳米孔表面的相互作用。这些纳米孔的体积域低于飞升。Siwy教授的研究将为表面化学、纳米制造、生物物理学和生物技术的研究生和本科生提供跨学科的培训机会。本职业奖的教育计划重点是组织初高中学生到加州大学欧文分校参观，并结合纳米技术的研究经验。针对高中的外展活动将与UCI学校研究和信息技术伙伴关系（SPIRIT）计划合作进行。

Prof. Siwy and her group at the University of California, Irvine will study single nanopores therefore 'holes' whose diameter is 100,000 smaller than the thickness of a human hair. With the support of the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program in the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation, Prof. Siwy and coworkers are addressing questions to understand the transport of ions and charged molecules through nanopores whose geometry and surface characteristics will be fully controlled. Transport properties of nanopores differ greatly from those of micrometer-sized pores. It is because the increased surface to volume ratio causes ions and molecules passing through the nanopore to be strongly influenced by the properties of the pore walls. The researchers will examine interactions of transported ions with the pore walls and study the relation between structure of nanopores and their transport properties. New methods will be developed to pattern surface charge of nanopores so that a maximum control of ionic transport is achieved. Success of this project will lead to the development of new and improved devices that would be applicable in biosensing, lab-on-a-chip, and nanofluidic systems. The project will help us to understand interactions of ions and charged molecules with surfaces in nanopores. These nanopores have a volume domain that is below femto-liters. The research of Prof. Siwy will provide interdisciplinary training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in surface chemistry, nanofabrication, biophysics and biotechnology. The education program of this Career Award is focused on organizing visits of middle and high school students to UC Irvine combined with research experience in nanotechnology. The outreach activities for high schools will be done in collaboration with the UCI School Partnership in Research and Information Technology (SPIRIT) program.