英国剑桥大学Nitschke, Jonathan R.报道了利用麦克斯韦恶魔建立宏观浓度梯度。相关研究成果发表在2024年6月10日出版的《自然—化学》。

麦克斯韦的恶魔描述了一个思想实验，在这个实验中，一个“恶魔”调节两个相邻空间之间的粒子流，在不做功的情况下建立一个势能梯度。这个看似矛盾的现象导致人们理解排序需要热力学功，这是信息论的一个基本概念。在过去的几个世纪里，许多类似于麦克斯韦恶魔的系统以分子信息、分子泵和棘轮的形式被引入。

该文中，研究人员报道了一个麦克斯韦恶魔的功能例子，它将材料泵送超过厘米，而之前的例子是在分子尺度上运行的。在该系统中，这种恶魔在光照射下驱动邻氟偶氮苯在U形管装置的臂之间的定向传输，穿过含有配位笼的水性膜。由此获得的浓度梯度被进一步用于驱动萘在相反方向上的传输。

附：英文原文

Title: Harnessing Maxwell’s demon to establish a macroscale concentration gradient

Author: Pruchyathamkorn, Jiratheep, Nguyen, Bao-Nguyen T., Grommet, Angela B., Novoveska, Miroslava, Ronson, Tanya K., Thoburn, John D., Nitschke, Jonathan R.

Issue&Volume: 2024-06-10

Abstract: Maxwell’s demon describes a thought experiment in which a ‘demon’ regulates the flow of particles between two adjoining spaces, establishing a potential gradient without appearing to do work. This seeming paradox led to the understanding that sorting entails thermodynamic work, a foundational concept of information theory. In the past centuries, many systems analogous to Maxwell’s demon have been introduced in the form of molecular information, molecular pumps and ratchets. Here we report a functional example of a Maxwell’s demon that pumps material over centimetres, whereas previous examples operated on a molecular scale. In our system, this demon drives directional transport of o-fluoroazobenzene between the arms of a U-tube apparatus upon light irradiation, transiting through an aqueous membrane containing a coordination cage. The concentration gradient thus obtained is further harnessed to drive naphthalene transport in the opposite direction.

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-024-01549-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-024-01549-2