Voltage-Driven Translocation: Defining a Capture Radius

Abstract

Analyte translocation involves three phases: (i) diffusion in the loading solution; (ii) capture by the pore; (iii) threading. The capture process remains poorly characterized because it cannot easily be visualized or inferred from indirect measurements. The capture performance of a device is often described by a \textit{capture radius} generally defined as the radial distance $R^{\ast }$ at which diffusion-dominated dynamics cross over to field-induced drift. However, this definition is rather ambiguous and the related models are usually over-simplified and studied in the steady-state limit. We investigate different approaches to defining and estimating $R^{\ast }$ for a charged particle diffusing in a liquid and attracted to the nanopore by the electric field. We present a theoretical analysis of the Péclet number as well as Monte Carlo simulations with different simulation protocols. Our analysis shows that the boundary conditions, pore size and finite experimental times all matter in the interpretation and calculation of $R^{\ast }$.

arXiv commentThe following article has been submitted to The Journal of Chemical Physics

References in corpus (6)

• The Statistics of DNA Capture by a Solid-State Nanopore
• DNA translocation through nanopores with salt gradients: The role of osmotic flow
• Electrophoretic Capture of a DNA Chain into a Nanopore
• Chain deformation helps translocation
• Role of Non-Equilibrium Conformations on Driven Polymer Translocation
• DNA capture into the ClyA nanopore: diffusion-limited versus reaction-limited processes

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Capture of rod-like molecules by a nanopore: defining an "orientational capture radius"
• How capture affects polymer translocation in a solitary nanopore
• Capture and translocation of a rod-like molecule by a nanopore: orientation, charge distribution and hydrodynamics
• Dielectric manipulation of polymer translocation dynamics in engineered membrane nanopores
• An efficient Kinetic Monte Carlo to study analyte capture by a nanopore: Transients, boundary conditions and time-dependent fields
• Ratcheting charged polymers through symmetric nanopores using pulsed fields: Designing a low pass filter for concentrating DNA
• Hydrodynamic effects in the capture of rod-like molecules by a nanopore