Periodic Reporting for period 3 - HyGate (Hydrophobic Gating in nanochannels: understanding single channel mechanisms for designing better nanoscale sensors)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-02-01 do 2023-07-31
The objective of HyGate is to unravel the fundamental mechanisms of hydrophobic gating in model nanopores and biological ion channels and exploit their understanding in order to design nanopore-based technologies, such as nanosensors with lower noise and higher selectivity. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, HyGate deploys the one-of-a-kind simulation and theoretical tools developed by the PI and the team to study vapor nucleation in extreme confinement, which comprises rare-event molecular dynamics and confined nucleation theory. These quantitative tools will be instrumental in understanding elusive biological phenomena and in designing better nanopore-based technologies which avoid the formation of nanobubbles or exploit them to achieve exquisite species selectivity. The novel physical insights into the behavior of water in complex nanoconfined environments are expected to inspire radically innovative strategies for nanopore sensing and nanofluidic circuits and to promote a discontinuous advancement in the fundamental understanding of hydrophobic gating mechanisms and their influence on the bio-electrical cell response.