中国科学院理化所闻利平团队报道了TRPM₄启发的具有优先阳离子传输的聚合物纳米通道，用于高效盐梯度能量转换。相关研究成果于2024年6月6日发表于国际一流学术期刊《美国化学会杂志》。

生物离子通道用于有效的能量转换具有可切换的阳离子传输特征，其具有超高的选择性，例如通过阳离子π相互作用调节的Ca²⁺激活的TRPM₄通道，但在人工纳米通道中实现类似的高选择性功能是具有挑战性的。

该文中，研究人员设计了一种受TRPM₄启发的，由两个分别具有磺酸和吲哚部分的聚（醚砜）组装而成的阳离子选择性纳米通道（CN）。它们作为阳离子选择性活化剂，通过离子和阳离子π相互作用来管理Na⁺/Cl^–选择性。Na⁺可以激活CNs的阳离子选择性，从而在50倍盐度梯度下，Na⁺迁移数从0.720显著提高到0.982（Na⁺/Cl^–选择性比从2.6提高到54.6），超过了K⁺迁移数（0.886）和Li⁺迁移量（0.900）。

TRPM₄启发的纳米通道膜实现了5.7 W m^–2的最大输出功率密度，用于盐度梯度功率采集。此外，提供了高达46.5%的创纪录的能量转换效率，优于大多数纳米通道膜（低于30%）。

该项工作提出了一种新的仿生纳米通道策略，用于高选择性的阳离子传输和高效的盐度梯度能量转换。

附：英文原文

Title: TRPM4-Inspired Polymeric Nanochannels with Preferential Cation Transport for High-Efficiency Salinity-Gradient Energy Conversion

Author: Dehua Huang, Kehan Zou, Yuge Wu, Ke Li, Zhehua Zhang, Tianchi Liu, Weipeng Chen, Zidi Yan, Shengyang Zhou, Xiang-Yu Kong, Lei Jiang, Liping Wen

Issue&Volume: June 6, 2024

Abstract: Biological ion channels exhibit switchable cation transport with ultrahigh selectivity for efficient energy conversion, such as Ca2+-activated TRPM4 channels tuned by cationπ interactions, but achieving an analogous highly selective function is challenging in artificial nanochannels. Here, we design a TRPM4-inspired cation-selective nanochannel (CN) assembled by two poly(ether sulfone)s, respectively, with sulfonate acid and indole moieties, which act as cation-selective activators to manage Na+/Cl– selectivity via ionic and cationπ interactions. The cation selectivity of CNs can be activated by Na+, and thereby the Na+ transference number significantly improves from 0.720 to 0.982 (Na+/Cl– selectivity ratio from 2.6 to 54.6) under a 50-fold salinity gradient, surpassing the K+ transference number (0.886) and Li+ transference number (0.900). The TRPM4-inspired nanochannel membrane enabled a maximum output power density of 5.7 W m–2 for salinity-gradient power harvesting. Moreover, a record energy conversion efficiency of up to 46.5% is provided, superior to most nanochannel membranes (below 30%). This work proposes a novel strategy to biomimetic nanochannels for highly selective cation transport and high-efficiency salinity-gradient energy conversion.

DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c02629

Source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.4c02629