In the scientific literature, there are countless statements of this kind:
"Asymmetric diffusion appears in studies of ion transport across membranes (1–12), and in the context of osmosis (13, 14). Ion pores in biological membranes often act as effective rectifiers, blocking the passage of a particular ion in one direction while allowing free flow in the other. Explanations of these phenomena emphasize electrostatic effects or conformational changes...Here, we demonstrate that asymmetric diffusion can occur with no ionic binding, in a fixed pore geometry." https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0703280104
Blocking the passage in one direction while allowing free flow in the other is a Maxwell demon function par excellence, which goes against the second law of thermodynamics. However authors don't even think of that, let alone mentioning it in their papers:
George Orwell: "Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity."
Here the crimestop is somewhat relaxed:
"...concentration difference is generated internally by a chemically-asymmetric membrane that drives anisotropic diffusion of electrolyte ions, rather than being provided by an external source." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213138822002466#b0005
The authors don't mention the Maxwell's demon but still discuss the violation of the second law of thermodynamics, even though in an ambiguous way that would calm down fierce thermodynamicists:
"This behavior is thermodynamically intriguing. The repeated reversion from
pH = 0.00 to pH = - 0.01 indicates a spontaneous sorting of hydrogen ions from a maximum entropy state – one in which [H+] is the same in both chambers – to a lower entropy state, one in which they are 2% different. On its face, this spontaneous reduction in entropy without work input seems at odds with traditional understandings of entropy and the second law [25] but, of course, there is actually no conflict when the entropy changes associated with the walls and membrane are combined with those of the solutions...The pHs and the resultant electrical power appear to be derived from the thermal diffusion of hydrogen ions, hence from purely thermal energy. At first glance this seems at odds with the second law of thermodynamics; however, as specified by the cell half-reactions, the anode continuously grows (precipitating AgCl) at the expense of the cathode, which will eventually disappear and bring the AMCC to a halt. Further investigation of AMCC thermodynamics seems warranted."
"Asymmetric diffusion appears in studies of ion transport across membranes (1–12), and in the context of osmosis (13, 14). Ion pores in biological membranes often act as effective rectifiers, blocking the passage of a particular ion in one direction while allowing free flow in the other. Explanations of these phenomena emphasize electrostatic effects or conformational changes...Here, we demonstrate that asymmetric diffusion can occur with no ionic binding, in a fixed pore geometry." https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0703280104
Blocking the passage in one direction while allowing free flow in the other is a Maxwell demon function par excellence, which goes against the second law of thermodynamics. However authors don't even think of that, let alone mentioning it in their papers:
George Orwell: "Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity."
Here the crimestop is somewhat relaxed:
"...concentration difference is generated internally by a chemically-asymmetric membrane that drives anisotropic diffusion of electrolyte ions, rather than being provided by an external source." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213138822002466#b0005
The authors don't mention the Maxwell's demon but still discuss the violation of the second law of thermodynamics, even though in an ambiguous way that would calm down fierce thermodynamicists:
"This behavior is thermodynamically intriguing. The repeated reversion from
pH = 0.00 to pH = - 0.01 indicates a spontaneous sorting of hydrogen ions from a maximum entropy state – one in which [H+] is the same in both chambers – to a lower entropy state, one in which they are 2% different. On its face, this spontaneous reduction in entropy without work input seems at odds with traditional understandings of entropy and the second law [25] but, of course, there is actually no conflict when the entropy changes associated with the walls and membrane are combined with those of the solutions...The pHs and the resultant electrical power appear to be derived from the thermal diffusion of hydrogen ions, hence from purely thermal energy. At first glance this seems at odds with the second law of thermodynamics; however, as specified by the cell half-reactions, the anode continuously grows (precipitating AgCl) at the expense of the cathode, which will eventually disappear and bring the AMCC to a halt. Further investigation of AMCC thermodynamics seems warranted."