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Explora: Environment

and Resource

EDITORIAL
Scalable fabrication and integration of

biomimetic nanofluidic photoreceptors

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Xiaolu Li 1 , Yuanbao Wu 2 , Hansong Cheng 3 , Jiaguo Yu 4 , Linfeng Chen * ,
and Fan Xia 1
1 State Key Laboratory of Geomicrobiology and Environmental Changes, Faculty of Materials
Science and Chemistry, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Faculty of Earth Sciences,
China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
3 Sustainable Energy Laboratory, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of
Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
4 Laboratory of Solar Fuel, Faculty of Materials Science and Chemistry, China University of
Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China

Biomimetic stimuli-responsive ion channels hold significant potential for advancing
innovative functional devices. However, achieving the efficient large-scale integration
of stimulus-sensitive nanochannels remains a major challenge in the production of
such devices. Huang et al. reported their research on photo-responsive highly oriented
nanochannels (pHANCs) in Science Advances. This work not only demonstrates excellent
photo-responsive osmotic energy-harvesting performance but also addresses critical
challenges related to the scalability and functionality of ionic devices.

*Corresponding author: Ion channels, which are nanoscale channels with selective ion transport properties,
Linfeng Chen are ubiquitous in biological systems. The transport of ions across cell membranes
(chenlinfeng@cug.edu.cn) is regulated by the opening or closing of these channels under various chemical and
Citation: Li X, Wu Y, Cheng H, physical stimuli, which plays a crucial role in neuronal signal transduction and cell
Yu J, Chen L, Xia F. Scalable excitability regulation. For example, voltage-gated potassium ion channels are pivotal
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fabrication and integration
of biomimetic nanofluidic in cellular electrical signal transduction, with their gating controlled by the movement
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photoreceptors. Explora Environ of transmembrane voltage sensors. Similarly, the biological visual system relies on
Resour. 2025;2(2):025120022. the opening or closing of light-responsive ion channels in retina cells, converting light
doi: 10.36922/EER025120022
information to electric signal. Employing solid-state nanochannels to mimic the stimuli-
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Received: March 17, 2025 responsive gating functions observed in biological systems holds significant potential. It
Revised: March 27, 2025 will be not only valuable for probing the ion transport mechanisms within biological
channels, but also for developing nanofluidic devices with a wide range of applications,
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Accepted: April 1, 2025
such as ion extraction, biosensing, and energy conversion. 7
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Published online: April 18, 2025
To fabricate stimuli-responsive nanochannels, two main strategies are commonly
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article employed: using stimuli-responsive materials to construct nanochannels, and doping
distributed under the terms of the or modifying nanochannels with stimuli-responsive molecules/nanomaterials. Upon
Creative Commons Attribution external stimuli, such as light, voltage, force, and pH, the properties of nanochannels,
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License, permitting distribution, 13 14 15
and reproduction in any medium, including pore size, surface charge, and wettability, can be altered, thereby inducing
provided the original work is corresponding variations in ionic transport. Among these stimuli, light is particularly
properly cited. advantageous due to its superior spatiotemporal resolution and versatile remote-control
Publisher’s Note: AccScience capabilities, making photo-responsive nanochannels a subject of increasing interest. For
Publishing remains neutral with instance, metal-organic frameworks encapsulating light-responsive spiropyrans have
regard to jurisdictional claims in 9
published maps and institutional been used to efficiently regulate the ion flux under ultraviolet light irradiation. Despite
affiliations. significant progress in developing smart nanochannels over the past decades, large-
Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/EER025120022