Nanofluidics in carbon nanotubes

纳米流体学被正式归类为研究流体在至少一个维度小于100纳米的装置中的行为、操纵和控制。该提案描述了一个研究计划，探索纳米流体的极端政权（在10纳米以下），连续流体动力学理论开始崩溃，新的流体行为出现。例如，水在7纳米的无摩擦碳纳米管内芯内以比经典理论预测的高4到5个数量级的速度流动。这种增强的流体运输只能在生物纳米孔中观察到，例如形成细胞“管道”系统的水通道蛋白。直到最近，技术的进步，特别是材料科学和微/纳米制造技术的进步，才使科学家们能够创造人工纳米通道和纳米孔，以探索长期建立的生物纳米孔的自然机制。在本提案中，我们概述了我们在解决10纳米尺度下纳米流体的基础科学和工程挑战方面的短期和长期目标，这可能会导致在化学分离和分析，组织工程，疾病诊断和废水处理方面的重要应用。

Nanofluidics is formally classified as the study of the behavior, manipulation, and control of fluids in devices having at least one dimension less than 100 nm. This proposal describes a research program that explores an extreme regime of nanofluidics (at sub-10 nm), where continuum hydrodynamics theories start to break down and new fluid behaviors emerge. For instance, water travels inside frictionless carbon nanotube inner core of 7 nm at a velocity 4 to 5 orders higher than that predicted by classical theories. This type of enhanced fluid transport is only observed otherwise in the biological nanopores, such as aquaporin proteins which form the "plumbing" systems of cells. It is only recently that advancements in technology, in particular material sciences and micro/nanofabrication, allowed scientists to create artificial nanochannels and nanopores to explore the long established natural mechanisms of biological nanopores. In this proposal, we outline our short and long term goals in addressing fundamental scientific and engineering challenges in nanofluidics at sub 10-nm scale, which could lead to significant applications in chemical separation and analysis, tissue engineering, disease diagnostics, and wastewater treatment.