Nanoscale carbon tubes and pipes can be readily fabricated using self-assembly techniques and they have useful electrical, optical and mechanical properties. The transport of liquids along their central pores is now of considerable interest both for testing classical theories of fluid flow at the nanoscale and for potential nanofluidic device applications. In this review we consider evidence for novel fluid flow in carbon nanotubes and pipes that approaches frictionless transport. Methods for controlling such flow and for creating functional device architectures are described and possible applications are discussed.
Recent experimental and theoretical studies demonstrate that pressure driven flow of fluids through nanoscale ( d < 10 nm) carbon pores occurs 4 to 5 orders of magnitude faster than predicted by extrapolation from conventional theory. Here, we report experimental results for flow of water, ethanol, and decane through carbon nanopipes with larger inner diameters (43 +/- 3 nm) than previously investigated. We find enhanced transport up to 45 times theoretical predictions. In contrast to previous work, in our systems, decane flows faster than water. These nanopipes were composed of amorphous carbon deposited from ethylene vapor in alumina templates using a single step fabrication process.
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