High durability and stability of 2D nanofluidic devices for long-term single-molecule sensing

• Published in: NPJ 2D materials and applications Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 11
• Main Authors: Thakur, Mukeshchand, Cai, Nianduo, Zhang, Miao, Teng, Yunfei, Chernev, Andrey, Tripathi, Mukesh, Zhao, Yanfei, Macha, Michal, Elharouni, Farida, Lihter, Martina, Wen, Liping, Kis, Andras, Radenovic, Aleksandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.01.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/357/1018; 639/925/927/1058; Aqueous solutions; Biosensors; Chemistry and Materials Science; Durability; Engineering schools; Fluidics; Graphene; Information storage; Materials Science; Membranes; Molybdenum disulfide; Monolayers; Nanofluids; Nanotechnology; Oxidation; Pore size; Sensors; Shelf life; Signal to noise ratio; Stability analysis; Substrates; Surface stability; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Two-dimensional materials; Nanopores
• ISSN: 2397-7132; 2397-7132
• DOI: 10.1038/s41699-023-00373-5

Nanopores in two-dimensional (2D) membranes hold immense potential in single-molecule sensing, osmotic power generation, and information storage. Recent advances in 2D nanopores, especially on single-layer MoS 2 , focus on the scalable growth and manufacturing of nanopore devices. However, there still remains a bottleneck in controlling the nanopore stability in atomically thin membranes. Here, we evaluate the major factors responsible for the instability of the monolayer MoS 2 nanopores. We identify chemical oxidation and delamination of monolayers from their underlying substrates as the major reasons for the instability of MoS 2 nanopores. Surface modification of the substrate and reducing the oxygen from the measurement solution improves nanopore stability and dramatically increases their shelf-life. Understanding nanopore growth and stability can provide insights into controlling the pore size, shape and can enable long-term measurements with a high signal-to-noise ratio and engineering durable nanopore devices.