TY - JOUR
T1 - Conditions for electroneutrality breakdown in nanopores
AU - Green, Yoav
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Mr. Ran Eshel and Mr. John Sebastian for their help in preparing the graphics for this work. This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 337/20 and 1953/20). We acknowledge the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology for their support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Author(s).
PY - 2021/11/14
Y1 - 2021/11/14
N2 - It has recently been suggested that a breakdown of electroneutrality occurs in highly confined nanopores that are encompassed by a dielectric material. This work elucidates the conditions for this breakdown. We show that the breakdown within the pore results from the response of the electric field within the dielectric. Namely, we show that this response is highly sensitive to the boundary condition at the dielectric edge. The standard Neumann boundary condition of no-flux predicts that the breakdown does not occur. However, a Dirichlet boundary condition for a zero-potential predicts a breakdown. Within this latter scenario, the breakdown exhibits a dependence on the thickness of the dielectric material. Specifically, infinite thickness dielectrics do not exhibit a breakdown, while dielectrics of finite thickness do exhibit a breakdown. Numerical simulations confirm theoretical predictions. The breakdown outcomes are discussed with regard to single pore systems and multiple pore systems.
AB - It has recently been suggested that a breakdown of electroneutrality occurs in highly confined nanopores that are encompassed by a dielectric material. This work elucidates the conditions for this breakdown. We show that the breakdown within the pore results from the response of the electric field within the dielectric. Namely, we show that this response is highly sensitive to the boundary condition at the dielectric edge. The standard Neumann boundary condition of no-flux predicts that the breakdown does not occur. However, a Dirichlet boundary condition for a zero-potential predicts a breakdown. Within this latter scenario, the breakdown exhibits a dependence on the thickness of the dielectric material. Specifically, infinite thickness dielectrics do not exhibit a breakdown, while dielectrics of finite thickness do exhibit a breakdown. Numerical simulations confirm theoretical predictions. The breakdown outcomes are discussed with regard to single pore systems and multiple pore systems.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118928039&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1063/5.0070178
DO - 10.1063/5.0070178
M3 - Article
C2 - 34773942
AN - SCOPUS:85118928039
VL - 155
JO - Journal of Chemical Physics
JF - Journal of Chemical Physics
SN - 0021-9606
IS - 18
M1 - 184701
ER -