Paper BI-ThM10
Non-equilibrium Thermodynamic Model for DNA at Nanochannel Junctions

Thursday, October 25, 2018, 11:00 am, Room 101B

DNA, often studied as a polymer molecule, extends along the axis of confining channel if the size of channel is less than the radius of gyration of the molecule. Extended molecule can be manipulated for wide range of applications such as DNA sorting, gene mapping, single molecule experiment, and fundamental polymer physics experiment. The optimization and advancement of these nanofluidic applications necessitates the understanding of physics behind the confinement of DNA in nanochannel. So far, most of the studies have considered linear and uniform channels. However, many nanofluidic applications such as sorting, single molecule experiment require complex manipulation of DNA in branched channels with junctions. Dynamics response of DNA in such nanofluidic networks with junctions and asymmetric channels is relatively unknown. We studied the transport of DNA in a nanofluidic device made up of series of nanochannel junctions with asymmetric channel size. Here we present a non-equilibrium thermodynamic model for a nanochannel junction with asymmetry in channel size. We show that the transport direction of DNA in the device can be tuned locally by altering the confinement free energy of DNA or the flow potential in nanochannels. Using our model, we show that the motion of DNA in branched nanofluidic networks can be predicted stochastically.