Aquafoldmer-Based Aquaporin-like Synthetic Water Channel

Synthetic
water channels were developed with an aim to replace
aquaporins for possible uses in water purification, while concurrently
retaining aquaporins’ ability to conduct highly selective superfast
water transport. Among the currently available synthetic water channel
systems, none possesses water transport properties that parallel those
of aquaporins. In this report, we present the first synthetic water
channel system with intriguing aquaproin-like features. Employing
a “sticky end”-mediated molecular strategy for constructing
abiotic water channels, we demonstrate that a 20% enlargement in angstrom-scale
pore volume could effect a remarkable enhancement in macroscopic water
transport profile by 15 folds. This gives rise to a powerful synthetic
water channel able to transport water at a speed of ∼3 ×
109 H2O s–1 channel–1 with a high rejection of NaCl and KCl. This high water permeability,
which is about 50% of aquaporin Z’s capacity, makes channel 1 the fastest among the existing synthetic water channels
with high selectivity.