Light resonantly enhances the permeability of functionalized membranes
Tingyu Sun, Zhi Zhu
Abstract
Functionalized membranes show exceptional molecular permeation properties and have high potential value in a broad range of practical applications. The improvement of membrane permeability was primarily attributed to the advancement of chemical methods, while the solution to the improvement from physical means lacked due attention. In this study, based on the graphene oxide (GO) membrane model and molecular dynamic simulations, we propose that light at a specific frequency can dramatically and resonantly enhance the membrane permeability; for example, the maximum enhancement of the GO membrane can reach 141-fold. The underlying mechanism is that the photon energy of the light absorbed by functional groups on the membrane is transferred to the kinetic energy of confined water via direct collision, which breaks the hydrogen bond network inside the membrane and enhances the diffusion of confined water. The findings of this study provide a possible route to controllable particle transport in biological processes and chemical reactions.