Molecular dynamics simulations on the ionic current through charged nanopores

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was performed to investigate the ionic current through charged nanopores, and the results were compared with the calculation of Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) equations based on the continuum theory. Results show that the current obtained by MD simulation is lower than the current calculated by PNP equations, and the discrepancy depends on the surface charge density of the nanopores. Also, MD simulation shows that the contribution of the electro-osmotic flow effect on ionic current could be 10% higher than the results obtained by solving PNP equations. Since the PNP equations do not take the effect of the pore wall into consideration, we suggest that adjusting the diffusion coefficient in the PNP equations can obtain more accurate results when calculating the ionic current through charged nanopores.