Structure and ionic selectivity of a hybrid polyene/artificial polymer solid state membrane

We report the production of a robust hybrid polyene/artificial solid-state membrane. The production of this membrane is based on the confinement of Amphotericin B inside the cylindrical nanopores of a polymeric membrane. The experiments supported by molecular dynamics simulations reveal new filtration properties never seen in biological membranes. Indeed this biomimetic membrane exhibits higher permeability to anions than to monovalent (Na+ and K+) and divalent (Ca2+) cations. This work opens a new route of separation in the domain of nanobiofiltration, especially for tunable nanodevices based on differential ion conduction, using a fundamental understanding of the confinement mechanism.