We have conducted molecular dynamics simulations of water flow in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for (6,6) to (20,20) CNTs at a streaming velocity of 100 ms. The fluidized piston model (FPM) and the ice piston model (IPM) are employed to drive flow through the CNTs. The results show that the single-file water flow inside (6,6) CNT has a convex upward streaming velocity profile, whereas the velocity profiles in (10,10) to (20,20) CNTs are flat except near the tube wall. The flow structure of cylindrical water in the (8,8) CNT is intermediate between that for the (6,6) CNT and the larger CNTs. The flow parameters are found not to exhibit any dependence on streaming velocity at up to 300 ms in the (12,12) CNT. The hydrogen bond lifetimes of water flowing in CNTs tend to be longer than for the corresponding equilibrium states, and nonzero flow does not reduce the microscopic structure or structural robustness (hydrogen bond lifetime). Although the atomic density profile varies with tube diameter, reflecting the change in static microscopic structure of flow from single file to cylindrical, tube diameter does not induce a clear transition in streaming velocity, temperature, or hydrogen bond lifetime over this diameter range. The results suggest that water flow in CNTs of this size is more pluglike than Poiseuille type, although the flow structure does not strictly accord with either definition.

We have investigated the density and temperature dependences of microscopic structure and hydrogen bond dynamics of water inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using molecular dynamics simulation. The CNTs are treated as rigid, and smoothly truncated extended simple point charge water model is adopted. The results show that as the overall density increases, the atomic density profiles of water inside CNTs become sharper, the peaks shift closer to the wall, and a new peak of hydrogen atomic density appears between the first (outermost) and second layer. The intermittent hydrogen bond correlation function C(HB)(t) of water inside CNTs decays slower than that of bulk water, and the rate of decay decreases as the tube diameter decreases. C(HB)(t) clearly decays more slowly for the first layer of water than for other regions inside CNTs. The C(HB)(t) of the interlayer hydrogen bonds decays faster than those of the other regions and even faster than that of the bulk water. On the other hand, the hydrogen bond lifetimes of the first layer are shorter than those of the inner layer(s). Interlayer hydrogen bond lifetimes are clearly shorter than those of the constituent layers. As a whole, the hydrogen bond lifetimes of water inside CNTs are shorter than those of bulk water, while the relaxation of C(HB)(t) is slower for the confined water than for bulk water. In other words, hydrogen bonds of water inside CNTs break more easily than those of bulk water, but the water molecules remain in each other's vicinity and can easily reform the bonds.

Graphical Abstract

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy enables the single-molecule observation in liquid near substrate surface. However, the evaluation of the diffusion from their individually-tracked positions entails the difficulty in the treatment of molecular adsorption on the substrate. We propose a novel technique to evaluate them, and two types of near-surface Brownian motion were determined for DNA. One is the diffusion near glass surface, and the other is the adsorption-dominated motion, which is also found to be diffusive rather than anchored to the substrate. Our technique does not require the threshold values for the distinction, and even the transition between them can be captured. Objective distinction of Brownian motion with and without adsorption does not require the adsorption-free sample preparation. It is also useful for the characterization of adsorption/desorption kinetics. Our method is not limited to TIRF but applicable to many other systems involving multiple states of Brownian motion.

A carbon nanotube junction consists of two connected nanotubes with different diameters. It has been extensively investigated as a molecular electronic device since carbon nanotubes can be metallic and semiconductive, depending on their structure. However, a carbon nanotube junction can also be viewed as a nanoscale nozzle andv diffuser. Here, we focus on the nanotube junction from the perspective of an intersection between machine, material and device. We have conducted a molecular dynamics simulation of the molecular flow inside a modeled (12,12) -(8,8) nanotube junction. A strong gravitational field and a periodic boundary condition are applied in the flow direction. We investigated dense-Ar flows and dense-He flows while controlling the temperature of the nanotube junction. The results show that Ar atoms tend to be near to the wall and the density of the Ar is higher in the wide (12,12) nanotube than in the narrow (8,8) nanotube, while it is lower in the wide tube when no flow occurs. The streaming velocities of both the Ar and the He are higher in the narrow nanotube than in the wide nanotube, but the velocity of the Ar is higher than the velocity of the He and the temperature of the flowing Ar is higher than the temperature of the He when the same magnitude of gravitational field is applied. q