Transport and Interfacial Phenomena in Boron Nitride Nanotubes

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0852657N. R. Aluru Transport and interfacial phenomena of water and electrolytes in nanopores have gained attention over the last decade due to their promise in substantially improving the performance and efficiency of many applications such as biological/chemical systems, water purification systems, and fuel cell devices. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) physical and chemical properties have been investigated for a number of these applications. Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) possess many of the superior properties of CNTs such as a high Young's modulus and thermal conductivity, but unlike CNTs, BNNTs exhibit high resistance to oxidation, and a wide band-gap regardless of its chirality. These exciting properties allow BNNTs to act as complementary materials to CNTs or even replace the CNTs for many applications. The goal of this research is to perform extensive computational studies on transport and interfacial properties of water and ions through BNNTs to not only establish the fundamentals of nanofluidics in BNNTs but also to enable development of various applications using BNNTs. The primary objectives of this proposed research are to (i) perform quantum-mechanical calculations to compute partial charges of various atoms in bare and functionalized BNNTs, (ii) perform molecular dynamics simulations to compute structure, dynamics and transport properties of water and ions in bare and functionalized BNNTs, (iii) perform continuum and hierarchical multiscale calculations to compute macroscopic properties (such as current versus voltage, flow rate versus pressure) in BNNTs, and (iv) explore various applications in energy, sensing and separation. The research fundamentals and techniques developed as part of this project will be incorporated into a graduate level course on computational modeling of MEMS and NEMS offered by the PI. Recruitment of women and minority graduate students, recruitment of undergraduate students for REU projects, incorporation of project results into summer schools offered at UIUC are other planned activities.