Single-particle and ensemble diffusivitiesa-test of ergodicity

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201105388

To prove the ergodic theorem experimentally the diffusivities of guest molecules inside a nanostructured porous glass were measured by using two conceptually different approaches under identical conditions. The data obtained through the direct observation of dye-molecule diffusion by single-molecule tracking experiments (red circles) was in perfect agreement with the ensemble value obtained in pulsed-field gradient NMR experiments (black squares). Copyright

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.201105388

.
Angewandte
Communications
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201105388
Single-Molecule Spectroscopy
Single-Particle and Ensemble Diffusivities—Test of Ergodicity**
Florian Feil, Sergej Naumov, Jens Michaelis, Rustem Valiullin, Dirk Enke, Jçrg Kꢀrger,* and
Christoph Brꢀuchle*
2
Diffusion is the omnipresent, random motion of matter, such
as atoms and molecules, driven by thermal energy and is the
displacement r (t) of a diffusing particle during a time interval
t [Eq. (1)].
[
1]
key for innumerable processes in nature and technology. In
nearly every chemical reaction diffusion is the key mechanism
of bringing the reactants in close proximity, which is an
essential prerequisite before any reaction can take place.
Additionally many reactions are diffusion-controlled, mean-
ing that the reaction kinetics is limited by the diffusion
process. Central to the dynamics of diffusion, and in general
Tꢀt
Z
ꢀ
ꢁ
1
2
2
r ðtÞ
¼ lim
ðrðt þ tÞ ꢀ rðtÞÞ dt
ð1Þ
time
T!1 T ꢀ t
0
Exactly this quantity is in the most straightforward way
measured using the diffusion gradient NMR technique. Here,
however, the mean square displacements measured are
[
2]
matter, is the ergodic theorem, which states that for systems
in the equilibrium state the time average taken over a single
particle is the same as the ensemble average over many
particles. However, while being generally accepted no exper-
imental validation has so far been reported. Here, we present
experimental proof of this fundamental theorem by measur-
ing under identical conditions the diffusivities of guest
molecules inside a nanostructured porous glass using two
conceptually different approaches. The data obtained through
the direct observation of dye molecule diffusion by single-
2
0
averaged taken over about 10 diffusing species [Eq. (2)]:
ZZ
ꢀ
ꢁ
2
2
r ðtÞ ensemble¼
ðr ꢀ r Þ pðr ÞPðr; t; r Þdrdr
ð2Þ
0
0
0
0
r;r0
where p(r ) and P(r,t;r ) denote, respectively, the (“a priori”)
probability that a molecule is found at position r within the
sample and the (“conditional”) probability that, after time t, a
molecule has moved from r
0
0
0
to r. For both r and r, the
0
0
[3]
molecule tracking experiments, that is, the time-average, is
in perfect agreement with the ensemble value obtained in
integration extends over the whole sample space.
The direct comparison of these two quantities obtained
for one and the same system may yield essential information
on microscopic mechanisms of mass transfer in systems
exhibiting deviations from normal diffusion including out-of-
[
4]
pulsed-field gradient NMR experiments.
After one and a half centuries of diffusion measurements
[
5]
with large ensembles of diffusing particles, the option of
single-particle tracking (SPT) with single-molecule sensitivity
has recently provided us with a totally new view of diffusion.
In this approach, the trajectory of a single, optically labeled
molecule can be recorded during a sufficiently long interval of
time. The obtained trajectory can thereafter be analyzed to
access, for example, the average value of the squared
[
6]
equilibrium situations
and, more generally, ergodicity
[
7]
breaking. However this is an extremely difficult experimen-
tal problem. Even the seemingly simple case of equilibrium
systems, forming the basis for the proof of the ergodic
theorem, so far remained unregarded in the literature.
To date, the mutually contradicting measuring conditions
have prohibited the application of ensemble and single-
particle techniques to one and the same system: The
trajectory of a diffusing single molecule is constructed by
[
+]
[
*] M. Sc. F. Feil, Prof. Dr. J. Michaelis, Prof. Dr. C. Brꢀuchle
Department of Chemistry and Center for NanoScience
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
[3a]
fitting the position of the molecule over time with SPT.
Therefore the fluorescence signals of the molecules have to be
clearly separated from each other, which requires very low
concentrations. Additionally the measurements are limited by
the signal-to-noise ratio, which is influenced by the brightness
of the dye molecules as well as the integration time.
Consequently there is an upper limit for the detectable
diffusivity in SPT. Exactly the opposite conditions, namely
high concentrations (for generating sufficiently strong signal
intensities) and high diffusivities (for giving rise to observable
displacements) must be fulfilled for the application of the
pulsed-field gradient (PFG) technique of NMR spectroscopy,
representing the most powerful ensemble technique for
diffusion studies.
Butenandtstraße 11, 81377 Munich (Germany)
E-mail: christoph.braeuchle@cup.uni-muenchen.de
[
+]
Dr. S. Naumov, Dr. R. Valiullin, Prof. Dr. J. Kꢀrger
Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences
University of Leipzig
Linnestraße 5, 04103 Leipzig (Germany)
E-mail: kaerger@physik.uni-leipzig.de
Prof. Dr. D. Enke
Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Leipzig
Linnestraße 3, 04103 Leipzig (Germany)
+
[
] These authors contributed equally to this work.
[
**] This work was funded by FOR 877 “From local constraints to
macroscopic transport”, SFB 749, and the Nanosystems Initiative
Munich (NIM). We are grateful to Dr. C. Jung for constructive
discussions.
Bridging the gap between SPT and ensemble measure-
ment did thus require a thoughtful selection of both the probe
molecule and the host system. Among a large variety of
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201105388.
1
152
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fluorescing molecules, Atto532 (ATTO532-COOH, ATTO-
TEC, Siegen, Germany) dissolved in deuterated methanol
offered particularly favorable properties for both techniques,
namely a long transverse nuclear magnetic relaxation time for
PFG NMR spectroscopy (see the Methods Section in the
Supporting Information) and a sufficient photostability and
quantum yield for single-molecule spectroscopy. Both single-
[
8]
[9]
particle observation and PFG NMR ensemble studies
have revealed porous glasses as a most versatile host system
for diffusion studies. Moreover, with the option of a
[10]
continuous variation of the mean pore diameter porous
glasses offer the unique option to “adjust” the guest
diffusivities to those values where the sensitivity ranges of
SPT and ensemble measurements overlap.
So far, the application of porous glasses as a standard
material for diffusion measurements in nanopores was limited
by the fact that the lower limit of controlled pore sizes in
monolithic materials has been on the order of 4 nm, as a
consequence of uncontrolled phase separation in the sodium
Figure 1. PFG NMR spin-echo diffusion attenuation of a dye ensemble.
Data are fitted with a bi-exponential decay thus accounting for
diffusion inside the pores and in excess medium.
[
10]
borosilicate initial glass melt. This limitation has now been
[
11]
overcome by a modified roller-quenching process
combination with an optical fine cooling
in
[
12]
so that the
Figure 1 shows a typical PFG NMR spin-echo diffusion
attenuation of a dye ensemble with the solid line being the fit
of Equation (3) to the experimental data. Notably, the
experiments performed with varying diffusion time t yielded
the diffusivities which, in the considered interval from 5 to
100 ms, did not depend on the observation time, thus
revealing normal diffusion. Exactly the thus obtained diffu-
sivities D are further shown in Figure 3.
fabrication of nanoporous glasses with a homogeneous pore
surface and pore diameters down to 1 nm have now become
[
13]
possible. Here we used such glasses with a random three-
dimensional pore structure and pore sizes of 3 nm as
determined from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K (see the
Supporting Information).
First, the diffusion properties of dye molecules in the
nanoporous host were studied using gradient NMR spectros-
copy. To solely detect the NMR signal of the dye molecules
under study, we have chosen deuterated methanol as a solvent
and tuned the working NMR frequency of the spectrometer
to that of protons residing on the dye. The NMR samples (see
the Methods section in the Supporting Information) con-
tained both solutions within the pores as well as some excess
bulk phase. Thus, there existed two populations of the dye
molecules with different diffusion properties, with faster
diffusivities in the bulk and with slower diffusivities in the
The diffusion of dye molecules in the glass material was
studied additionally by single-molecule fluorescence micros-
copy (see the Methods section in the Supporting Informa-
tion). By collecting several fluorescence images of the single
molecules using wide-field microscopy and determining the
position of the molecules in each image, single-molecule
trajectories are obtained (an example can be seen in Fig-
ure 2a.) The diffusion coefficient for each single-molecule
trajectory can be extracted from the linear part of the mean
2
square displacement (MSD) plots according to hr (t)i = 4Dt
[
9]
pore system due to confinements, with the relative weights
determined by dynamic equilibrium between the two
assuming an isotropic Brownian diffusion in all three
dimensions and keeping in mind that the fluorescence
images correspond to a two-dimensional projection of the
three-dimensional diffusion. An isotropic Brownian motion is
justified by the fact that the particle diffuses in a three-
dimensional pore structure und the displacements followed in
the experiments exceed the pore diameters by orders of
magnitude. To test whether diffusion is dependent on the dye
concentration at low filling ratios, we performed experiments
at increasing concentrations keeping in mind that the signal
separation of different single dye molecules and out-of-plane
fluorescence becomes limiting at higher concentrations. The
MSDs of 170 single Atto532 molecules from samples with
“
phases”. Consequently, the primary quantity measured,
namely the NMR spin-echo diffusion attenuation Y, had
[
4b,14]
been contributed by both ensembles [Eq. (3)]:
ꢂ
ꢃ
2
2
Yðq; tÞ ¼ pporeexpð ꢀ q tDÞ þ 1 ꢀ p
expð ꢀ q tDbulkÞ
ð3Þ
pore
In Equation (3), q is the wave number externally controlled in
the experiments, ppore is the relative fraction of dye molecules
in the pores, Dbulk and D are the diffusivities of the dye
molecules in the bulk solution and in the solution within the
pores. Notably, the use of the sum of two exponential
functions, uncoupled from one another, in Equation (3) is
fully justified by the fact that molecular exchange between the
two ensembles during the diffusion times of the order of tens
of milliseconds used in our experiments was negligibly small
because of the macroscopic extension of the porous mono-
ꢀ
11
ꢀ1
ꢀ10
ꢀ1
concentrations of 3.2 ꢀ 10 molL , 3.2 ꢀ 10 molL , and
ꢀ10
ꢀ1
6.4 ꢀ 10 molL were measured. As an example the MSD
plots of 70 single molecules of a concentration of 3.2 ꢀ
10 molL are shown in Figure 2b. The MSD plots fit
well to other examples of single-molecule diffusion. Addi-
tionally the cumulative distribution of the logarithm of the
single-molecule diffusivities of this sample is depicted in
ꢀ11
ꢀ1
[
15]
[
14]
lith.
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1153

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Angewandte
Communications
cients. The error bars are computed keeping in mind tracking
and statistical errors as well as sample-to-sample variations
and the lower signal-to-noise ratio for higher guest molecule
concentrations. Mean values obtained by PFG NMR spec-
troscopy are shown as black squares. Irrespective of the fact
that the measuring conditions may thus be adjusted to allow
the application of both techniques to one and the same host–
guest system, the maximum guest concentrations in SPT
turned out to remain separated from the minimum concen-
trations in PFG NMR spectroscopy by still one order of
magnitude. Even under such conditions, however, the meas-
urements may become fully comparable if molecular diffu-
sion is controlled by host–guest interactions, with the host
surface being sufficiently homogeneous for ensuring a host–
guest interaction that is independent of the guest concen-
tration.
Single-molecule and ensemble diffusion measurements
are found to experimentally confirm the hypothesis of
ergodicity for the first time because (within the limits of
accuracy) both techniques provide the same result (Figure 3).
With these experiments, the two so far separated worlds of
diffusion measurements have been brought together. As a
prerequisite of this combination we have considered a
situation where the rules of normal diffusion are obeyed.
Figure 2. Single-molecule studies of dye molecule diffusion in nano-
porous glasses. a) Typical trajectory of a single dye molecule diffusing
in the porous host system. For each time point the experimentally
determined positioning accuracy is depicted by box-error bars. b) MSD
plots obtained from the analysis of 70 single-molecule trajectories of
Atto532 dye molecules. The measurement was performed using a dye
However, single particle observations of, for example, bio-
ꢀ11
ꢀ1
[15,16]
concentration of 3.2ꢁ10 molL . c) Cumulative distribution of the
logarithm of the single-molecule diffusivities of the sample with a dye
logical systems
often seem to contradict ergodicity. In
many studies of this kind, the mean square displacement
ꢀ11
ꢀ1
concentration of 3.2ꢁ10 molL . The data are fitted assuming a log-
normal distribution using a maximum likelihood estimation (red line).
2
hr (t)i is found to deviate from the “normal” dependence
2
[6,17]
hr (t)i / t,
with the mean square displacement generally
increasing less than linearly with the observation time.
Among the reasons leading to such subdiffusive dynamics,
macromolecular crowding” and “obstacle effects”
[17]
“
are
considered as the most probable and decisive ones. Under
these conditions ergodicity breaking, that is, the difference
between the messages of SPT and PFG NMR spectroscopy,
might occur for example because of aging effects. They
correlate with the broad distribution of the mean residence
times of the particles in the subvolumes of the system and
with its variation during the evolution of the system. Now,
with the combined potentials of single particle and ensemble
measurements, we lay out the basis for future studies aiming
at the clarification of the possible conditions and underlying
reasons for the resulting patterns of ergodicity breaking.
Figure 3. Mean diffusivities (D) of Atto532 molecules inside the
porous host system (pore size 3 nm; c=concentration). Single-mole-
cule (red circles) and PFG NMR spectroscopic (black squares) mean
values.
Received: July 30, 2011
Published online: October 14, 2011
Keywords: diffusion · mesoporous materials ·
.
NMR spectroscopy · single-molecule studies
Figure 2c. Both distributions show the heterogeneity of
diffusion for different molecules, which is hidden to ensemble
measurements due to averaging. The data are fitted to a log-
normal distribution using a maximum likelihood estimation
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