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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 82 » Issue 17
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3552–3555 (1999)

Entropy-Driven Pumping in Zeolites and Biological Channels

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Tom Chou1,* and Detlef Lohse2
1Department of Physiology and DAMTP, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 9EW, England
2Department of Applied Physics and J. M. Burgers Centre for Fluid Mechanics, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Received 3 September 1998; published in the issue dated 26 April 1999

We simulate constrained dynamics of two species transport across single-file molecular-sized pores such as biomembrane channels and zeolites. We focus on diffusional pumping where one type of particle uses its entropy of mixing to drive another along its chemical potential gradient. Quantitative analyses of rates and efficiencies of transport are plotted as functions of transmembrane potential, pore length, and particle-pore interactions. Our results qualitatively explain recent measurements of “negative” osmosis and suggest new, more systematic experiments, particularly with zeolites.

© 1999 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.3552
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.3552
PACS:
87.16.Dg, 05.60.-k, 66.30.Ny, 82.65.Fr

*Present address: Department of Mathematics, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.

 
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