Molecular Dynamic Simulation of Pressure Drop of Water Flow in Carbon Nanotube in Presence of Two Reservoirs and Movable Pistons

There has been a rapidly increasing attention to study nanofluidic devices due to their broad potential applications such as water desalination and purification, biosensing and energy saving. CNTs are often used to achieve the transport of gases and liquids in the ultrafiltration devices and energy efficient water filters. In this study, the water flow inside a CNT which is connected by two reservoirs at the two ends of nanotube is investigated. Two movable wall pistons of graphene are used to drive the water molecules through the CNT. Our results show that the velocity profile in the nanotube is similar to a plug flow instead of a fully developed flow and a large pressure difference is required between two reservoirs to drive the water flow in the system. Also, the local pressure distribution and mass flow rate in the CNT is analyzed in details.