Aquafoldmer-Based Aquaporin-like Synthetic Water Channel

Abstract

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 x 109 H2O•s-1•channel-1 with 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.