Angstrom-Scale Channels made from 2D materials: Programmable ionic memory devices

Angstrom-scale confinement fundamentally alters the structure, dynamics, and transport of liquids, giving rise to phenomena that are absent in bulk systems. Two-dimensional material based angstrom-scale fluidic channels provide a uniquely well-defined platform to explore these effects, combining atomic-scale control of channel height, with tunable channel walls and their dimensions. Using such angstrom-scale channels, we have revealed highly selective ionic and molecular transport, enhanced ordering of confined water, and non-linear ionic conduction emerging from strong confinement and interfacial interactions [1-8]. These behaviours enable functional nanofluidic devices, including ionic memory elements, neuromorphic response, quantum emitters with implications for fluidic computing [4,5,6], and sensing applications [7].

Beyond transport, angstrom-scale nanofluidics offers new opportunities to probe the fundamentals of confined liquids. In this talk, I will discuss ionic memory from salt ions confined in 2D angstrom-scale channels, advances in spectroscopy of confined water, outlining our experimental approaches to directly access molecular structure and interactions under extreme confinement. Together, these studies highlight angstrom-scale confinement as a powerful framework for both discovery science and functional device engineering.

References:

[1] Y. You, A.Ismail et al., Annual Reviews for Materials Research 52, 189, (2022)

[2] B. Radha et al., Nature 538, 222 (2016); A. Bhardwaj et al., Nature Protocols (2024), 19, 240

[3] S. Goutham et al., Nature Nanotechnology (2023), 18, 596

[4] P. Robin, T. Emmerich, A. Ismail, et al., Science (2023), 379, 161.

[5] A. Ismail et al., Nature Comm. 2025, 16, 7008

[6] K.V. Saurav, N. Roncery et al., arXIV 2025, arXiv:2509.11637

[7] N. Ronceray et al., Nature Materials (2023), 22,1236

[8] A. Bhardwaj et al., Advanced Functional Materials (2024), 2401988