Crowding effects in non-equilibrium transport through nano-channels

Transport through nano-channels plays an important role in many biological processes and industrial applications. Gaining insights into the functioning of biological transport processes and the design of man-made nano-devices requires an understanding of the basic physics of such transport. A simple...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2010-11, Vol.22 (45), p.454130-454130
Main Authors: Zilman, A, Bel, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Computer Simulation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Models, Chemical
Models, Molecular
Molecular biophysics
Motion
Nanostructures - chemistry
Nanostructures - ultrastructure
Particle Size
Porosity
Thermodynamics
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Summary:Transport through nano-channels plays an important role in many biological processes and industrial applications. Gaining insights into the functioning of biological transport processes and the design of man-made nano-devices requires an understanding of the basic physics of such transport. A simple exclusion process has proven to be very useful in explaining the properties of several artificial and biological nano-channels. It is particularly useful for modeling the influence of inter-particle interactions on transport characteristics. In this paper, we explore several models of the exclusion process using a mean field approach and computer simulations. We examine the effects of crowding inside the channel and in its immediate vicinity on the mean flux and the transport times of single molecules. Finally, we discuss the robustness of the theory's predictions with respect to the crucial characteristics of the hindered diffusion in nano-channels that need to be included in the model.
ISSN:0953-8984
1361-648X
DOI:10.1088/0953-8984/22/45/454130