Nanofluidics in carbon nanotubes

纳米流体学被正式归类为研究至少一维小于100纳米的设备中流体的行为、操作和控制。这项建议描述了一项研究计划，该计划探索了纳米流体的极端制度(在10纳米以下)，在这种制度下，连续介质流体动力学理论开始瓦解，新的流体行为出现。例如，水在7 nm的无摩擦碳纳米管内以比经典理论预测的速度高4到5个数量级的速度运动。这种增强的液体传输只有在生物纳米孔中才能观察到，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/纳米制造的进步，才使科学家能够创造出人工纳米通道和纳米孔，以探索生物纳米孔长期存在的自然机制。在这份提案中，我们概述了我们的短期和长期目标，即在10纳米以下的尺度上解决纳米流体的基本科学和工程挑战，这可能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大应用。

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.