Artificial water channels enable fast and selective water permeation through water-wire networks

Woochul Song; Himanshu Joshi; Ratul Chowdhury; Joseph S Najem; Yue-Xiao Shen; Chao Lang; Codey B Henderson; Yu-Ming Tu; Megan Farell; Megan E Pitz; Costas D Maranas; Paul S Cremer; Robert J Hickey; Stephen A Sarles; Jun-Li Hou; Aleksei Aksimentiev; Manish Kumar

doi:10.1038/s41565-019-0586-8

Artificial water channels enable fast and selective water permeation through water-wire networks

Nat Nanotechnol. 2020 Jan;15(1):73-79. doi: 10.1038/s41565-019-0586-8. Epub 2019 Dec 16.

Authors

Woochul Song^{1

2}, Himanshu Joshi³, Ratul Chowdhury¹, Joseph S Najem^{4

5}, Yue-Xiao Shen⁶, Chao Lang¹, Codey B Henderson⁷, Yu-Ming Tu^{1

2}, Megan Farell¹, Megan E Pitz⁴, Costas D Maranas¹, Paul S Cremer⁷, Robert J Hickey⁸, Stephen A Sarles⁴, Jun-Li Hou⁹, Aleksei Aksimentiev³, Manish Kumar^{10

11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
³ Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
⁴ Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, UniversityPark, PA, USA.
⁶ Department of Civil, Environmental, & Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁸ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
⁹ Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
¹⁰ Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. [email protected].
¹¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. [email protected].
¹² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. [email protected].
¹³ Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Artificial water channels are synthetic molecules that aim to mimic the structural and functional features of biological water channels (aquaporins). Here we report on a cluster-forming organic nanoarchitecture, peptide-appended hybrid[4]arene (PAH[4]), as a new class of artificial water channels. Fluorescence experiments and simulations demonstrated that PAH[4]s can form, through lateral diffusion, clusters in lipid membranes that provide synergistic membrane-spanning paths for a rapid and selective water permeation through water-wire networks. Quantitative transport studies revealed that PAH[4]s can transport >10⁹ water molecules per second per molecule, which is comparable to aquaporin water channels. The performance of these channels exceeds the upper bound limit of current desalination membranes by a factor of ~10⁴, as illustrated by the water/NaCl permeability-selectivity trade-off curve. PAH[4]'s unique properties of a high water/solute permselectivity via cooperative water-wire formation could usher in an alternative design paradigm for permeable membrane materials in separations, energy production and barrier applications.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Aquaporins / chemistry
Calixarenes / chemistry
Membranes, Artificial
Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Nanostructures / chemistry*
Peptides / chemistry*
Permeability
Phenols / chemistry
Water / chemistry*

Substances

Aquaporins
Membranes, Artificial
Peptides
Phenols
calix(4)arene
Water
Calixarenes

Grants and funding

P41 GM104601/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States