Superassembly of 4-Aminothiophenol-Modified Mesoporous Titania-Alumina Oxide Heterochannels for Smart Ion Transport Based on the Photo-Induced Electron-Transfer Process

Light-responsive nanochannels haveattracted extensiveattentiondue to their noninvasive external field control and intelligent ionregulation. However, the limited photoresponsive current and the lowphotoelectric conversion efficiency still restrict their development.Here, a light-controlled nanochannel composed of 4-aminothiophenoland gold nanoparticles-modified mesoporous titania nanopillar arraysand alumina oxide (4-ATP-Au-MTI/AAO) is fabricated by the interfacialsuper-assembly strategy. Inspired by the process of electron transferbetween photosystem I and photosystem II, the efficient electron transferbetween TiO2, AuNPs, and 4-ATP under light is achievedby coupling the photoresponsive materials and functional molecules.Under illumination, 4-ATP is oxidized to p-nitrothiophenol(PNTP), which brings about changes in the wettability of the nanochannel,resulting in significant improvement (252.8%) of photoresponsive current.In addition, under the action of the reductant, the nanochannels canbe restored to the initial dark state, enabling multiple reversiblecycles. This work opens a new route for the fabrication of high-performancelight-controlled nanochannels by coupling light-responsive materialsand light-responsive molecules, which may guide the development ofphotoelectric conversion nanochannel systems.