Externally organized talk - Downscaling Nanopore Dimensions in Membranes: Single Molecule Detection and Ion Sieving
Talk externally organized by CRC 1415
Grégory F. Schneider
Leiden University

Thu., Feb. 6, 2025, 3 p.m.
This seminar is held in presence and online.
Room: CHE 182
Online: https://tu-dresden.zoom-x.de/j/69931999885?pwd=Fmco7yWwjm63wjOjjUBaXAA3NPz7P5.1

Google Scholar


Nanopores – nanoscale holes in a membrane – are used for biopolymer sequencing, ion exchange or as a molecular channel. Both an atomically thin and chemically precise pore geometry would enable precise sequencing information and efficient molecular separation. For sequencing, the idea is straightforward: pass a DNA molecule through the pore from head to tail, and read off each base when it is located at the narrowest constriction of the pore, using the ion current passing through the pore as the probe for detecting the identity of the nucleotide. Similarly, an ideal proton exchange membrane should only permeate protons and be leak-tight for fuels. Graphene is impermeable to water and poorly conducting to protons. Therefore, opening a pore just big enough to allow the transmembrane transport of protons would represent an attractive proton selective membrane. Similarly opening a pore just small enough for a single molecule to reside in the pore would enable its detection and identification. In this talk I will discuss our recent results aiming at bridging the gap between the molecular and macroscale in designing nanoporous membranes, graphene nanopores and graphene nanogaps.


Brief CV

Grégory Schneider is associate professor at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry. The focus of his research group is to explore the role and place of organic, supramolecular and physical chemistry in the synthesis, design, operation, and efficiency of 2D molecular sensors (i.e., based on graphene and other two dimensional layered materials). The vision is explained in three earlier reviews spanning from the edge chemistry of graphene (ChemPhysChem 2016, 17, 785-801), the surface chemistry of graphene field effect sensors (Advanced Materials 2016, 29, 1603610), and the challenges linked to the fabrication of nanostructured devices based on two-dimensional materials (Chemical Society Reviews 2016, 45, 476-493). The inter-twinning between these three separate research fields is critically important: the chemistry of graphene edges in edge-based sensors defines the sensing response of graphene nanopores and graphene nanogaps; the surface chemistry of graphene is equally important in determining the performance of graphene field-effect transistors as to understand biomolecular interaction with graphene in water (Applied Physics Letters 2024, 124, 210501). Grégory graduated with Professor Gero Decher at the Institute Charles Sadron in Strasbourg and worked with Professors George Whitesides and Cees Dekker till he started his research group in Leiden in December 2013 (ERC Starting grant, NWO VIDI, NWO OTP-TTW, ERC Synergy).



Share
Externally organized talk - Downscaling Nanopore Dimensions in Membranes: Single Molecule Detection and Ion Sieving
Talk externally organized by CRC 1415
Grégory F. Schneider
Leiden University

Thu., Feb. 6, 2025, 3 p.m.
This seminar is held in presence and online.
Room: CHE 182
Online: https://tu-dresden.zoom-x.de/j/69931999885?pwd=Fmco7yWwjm63wjOjjUBaXAA3NPz7P5.1

Google Scholar


Nanopores – nanoscale holes in a membrane – are used for biopolymer sequencing, ion exchange or as a molecular channel. Both an atomically thin and chemically precise pore geometry would enable precise sequencing information and efficient molecular separation. For sequencing, the idea is straightforward: pass a DNA molecule through the pore from head to tail, and read off each base when it is located at the narrowest constriction of the pore, using the ion current passing through the pore as the probe for detecting the identity of the nucleotide. Similarly, an ideal proton exchange membrane should only permeate protons and be leak-tight for fuels. Graphene is impermeable to water and poorly conducting to protons. Therefore, opening a pore just big enough to allow the transmembrane transport of protons would represent an attractive proton selective membrane. Similarly opening a pore just small enough for a single molecule to reside in the pore would enable its detection and identification. In this talk I will discuss our recent results aiming at bridging the gap between the molecular and macroscale in designing nanoporous membranes, graphene nanopores and graphene nanogaps.


Brief CV

Grégory Schneider is associate professor at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry. The focus of his research group is to explore the role and place of organic, supramolecular and physical chemistry in the synthesis, design, operation, and efficiency of 2D molecular sensors (i.e., based on graphene and other two dimensional layered materials). The vision is explained in three earlier reviews spanning from the edge chemistry of graphene (ChemPhysChem 2016, 17, 785-801), the surface chemistry of graphene field effect sensors (Advanced Materials 2016, 29, 1603610), and the challenges linked to the fabrication of nanostructured devices based on two-dimensional materials (Chemical Society Reviews 2016, 45, 476-493). The inter-twinning between these three separate research fields is critically important: the chemistry of graphene edges in edge-based sensors defines the sensing response of graphene nanopores and graphene nanogaps; the surface chemistry of graphene is equally important in determining the performance of graphene field-effect transistors as to understand biomolecular interaction with graphene in water (Applied Physics Letters 2024, 124, 210501). Grégory graduated with Professor Gero Decher at the Institute Charles Sadron in Strasbourg and worked with Professors George Whitesides and Cees Dekker till he started his research group in Leiden in December 2013 (ERC Starting grant, NWO VIDI, NWO OTP-TTW, ERC Synergy).



Share