Effect of hourglass-shaped nanopore length on osmotic water transport

M Shahbabaei and D Kim, CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 477, 24-31 (2016).

DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphys.2016.08.005

In the present research, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations are utilized in order to examine the water transport properties through hourglass- shaped pore structures with various lengths. The length elongates in a range of 100-200 angstrom, while the size of the narrowest diameter remains constant at 3 angstrom. The results show that the defect effect can be substantially diminished as the length increases, so that the fluctuations of the energy barrier reaches zero inside 200 angstrom pore structure, which is an indication of rapid increase of water transport rate. The flux increases with length, suggesting a reduction in hydrodynamic resistance, that water molecules are able to easily enter the pore. The axial diffusivity and permeability are increased once the length increments, which indicate a fast water transport. It is concluded that the thermal fluctuations of water molecules inside reservoir affect the motion of water molecules inside the pore as length decreases. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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