Abstract
Research on batteries mostly focuses on electrodes and electrolytes while few activities regard separator membranes. However, they could be used as a toolbox for injecting chemical functionalities to capture unwanted species and enhance battery lifetime. Here, we report the use of biological membranes hosting a nanopore sensor for electrical single molecule detection and use aqueous sodium polysulfides encountered in sulfur-based batteries for proof of concept. By investigating the host-guest interaction between polysulfides of different chain-lengths and cyclodextrins, via combined chemical approaches and molecular docking simulations, and using a selective nanopore sensor inserted into a lipid membrane, we demonstrate that supramolecular polysulfide/cyclodextrin complexes only differing by one sulfur can be discriminated at the single molecule level. Our findings offer innovative perspectives to use nanopores as electrolyte sensors and chemically design membranes capable of selective speciation of parasitic molecules for battery applications and therefore pave the way towards smarter electrochemical storage systems.
Highlights
Research on batteries mostly focuses on electrodes and electrolytes while few activities regard separator membranes
Each complex is well discriminated from free β-cyclodextrin in solution with an average blockade ratio of 61.8 ± 0.3% (Fig. 5b). These results strongly suggest that polysulfide species are docked inside the β-cyclodextrin cavity and that we can discriminate each species at a single sulfur atom level
Via the use of a protein nanopore sensor inserted into a lipid membrane we have demonstrated the feasibility to discriminate molecules that solely differ by a single sulfur atom
Summary
Research on batteries mostly focuses on electrodes and electrolytes while few activities regard separator membranes. The ongoing activities center on alternative technologies (Na-ion, Li-air, Li–S,...) and in the quest of means to enhance present batteries lifespan, durability and reliability The latter calls for the development of smart batteries embedded with intelligent sensing[4] and curing chemical functionalities[5,6]. The feasibility to use the temperature as a stimulus[9] to regulate on demand the uptake or release of trapped species within their cavities, offers an interesting auto-repairing function[10] Such properties have already been widely exploited for thermal switches[11] and in medicine for drug delivery[12] or as a molecular adapter to identify the DNA nucleotides[13], or small organic molecules[14]. Cyclodextrins have recently entered the field of batteries as well, as witnessed by the design of highly stretchable binders integrating sliding ring polyrotaxanes[15], e.g., selfassembled architectures of cyclodextrins to auto-repair fractured
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