Nanofluidic devices

Nanofluidic devices control or study fluids in channels with nanometer-scale dimensions, where surfaces and molecular size strongly affect transport and behavior.

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Electrical double layer: A charged surface and its surrounding counterions form an interfacial region in an electrolyte. When channel dimensions approach this layer's thickness, it can govern ion transport.
Nanofluidics: The study and manipulation of fluids in structures with nanometer-scale dimensions. Nanofluidic devices are the engineered platforms of this broader field.
Nanopore sequencing: A method for determining nucleic-acid sequences by measuring molecules as they pass through a nanopore. It uses confined ionic currents to detect molecular passage and infer sequence.
Nanoporous membrane: A membrane containing pores with nanometer-scale dimensions that allow selective transport. Unlike a single channel, it presents many parallel pathways through a material.
Ionic transport: The movement of ions through a material or fluid under concentration, electrical, or other gradients. Nanoconfinement reshapes the pathways and selectivity of ions moving through a device.
Microfluidics: The manipulation of small fluid volumes in channels with micrometer-scale dimensions. Its larger channels often lack the molecular confinement that distinguishes nanofluidics.
Nanopore sensing: Detection of molecules or particles through changes in electrical or other signals as they interact with a nanopore. Nanofluidic confinement makes small analytes measurable through changes in channel transport.
Capillary electrophoresis: A separation method that moves charged species through a narrow capillary under an electric field. It shares electrical driving forces but usually operates in channels too large for strong molecular confinement.
Ion selectivity: Preferential passage of some ionic species over others through a membrane or channel. Surface charge and pore dimensions can make nanofluidic channels selectively conduct ions.
Nanochannel: A narrow passage with at least one dimension on the nanometer scale. Nanochannels are the basic conduits in many nanofluidic architectures.