The transport of fluids in channels with diameter of 1-2 nm exhibits many anomalous features due to the interplay of several genuinely interfacial effects. Quasi-unidirectional ion transport, reminiscent of the behavior of membrane pores in biological cells, is one phenomenon that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years, e.g., for realizing diodes for ion-conduction based electronics. Although ion rectification has been demonstrated in many asymmetric artificial nanopores, it always fails in the high-concentration range, and operates in either acidic or alkaline electrolytes but never over the whole pH range. Here we report a hierarchical pore architecture carbon membrane with a pore size gradient from 60 nm to 1.4 nm, which enables high ionic rectification ratios up to 10⁴ in different environments including high concentration neutral (3 M KCl), acidic (1 M HCl), and alkaline (1 M NaOH) electrolytes, resulting from the asymmetric energy barriers for ions transport in two directions. Additionally, light irradiation as an external energy source can reduce the energy barriers to promote ions transport bidirectionally. The anomalous ion transport together with the robust nanoporous carbon structure may find applications in membrane filtration, water desalination, and fuel cell membranes.

由于几种真正的界面效应的相互作用，流体在直径为 1-2 nm 的通道中的传输表现出许多异常特征。准单向离子传输，让人联想到生物细胞膜孔的行为，是近年来引起很多关注的一种现象，例如，用于实现基于离子传导的电子器件的二极管。尽管已在许多不对称人工纳米孔中证明了离子整流，但它总是在高浓度范围内失败，并且在酸性或碱性电解质中运行，但从未在整个 pH 范围内运行。在这里，我们报告了一种孔径梯度从 60 nm 到 1.4 nm 的分级孔结构碳膜，它可以实现高达 10 ^{4 的}高离子整流比在不同的环境中，包括高浓度中性 (3 M KCl)、酸性 (1 M HCl) 和碱性 (1 M NaOH) 电解质，这是由于离子在两个方向传输的不对称能垒造成的。此外，光照射作为外部能源可以降低能垒，促进离子双向传输。异常离子传输与坚固的纳米多孔碳结构一起可应用于膜过滤、海水淡化和燃料电池膜。