“MOLECULAR TRAFFIC JAM MAKES WATER MOVES FASTER THROUGH NANOCHANNELS”

                Indeed, the new discovery of the research team headed by Mechanical Engineering Professor Seth Lichter of Northwestern University - School of Engineering and Applied Science is an intrinsic revelation of truth. They found out that the water molecular traveling through tiny carbon nanotube pipes do not flow continuously but rather intermittently.

                The previous molecular dynamic simulations suggested that water molecules coursing through carbon nanotubes are evenly spaced and move lockstep to one another. However, the latest research undertaken by Professor Lichter as published in the January 27 in the journal Physical Review Letters entitled “Solitons Transport Water through Narrow Carbon Nonatubes” revealed that, water actually move intermittently, enabling surprisingly high flow rates of 10 Billion molecules per second or more.

                The finding resolved the quandary that baffled fluid dynamic experts for years and placed the previous predicament uncertain because in reality water passing to carbon nanotubes travelled 10,000 times faster than the predicted.

               

 Such phenomenon was attributed to the smoothness of the carbon nanotube’s surface but further investigations points to the counter intuitive role of their inherently rough interior. Lichter and post doctoral researcher Thomas Sisan performed new simulations with greater time resolution, which reveals the localized variations in the distribution of water along the nanotube. Such variation occur when the water molecules do not line up perfectly with the spacing between the carbon atoms -- creating regions in which the water molecules are unstable thus it propagate exceedingly and rapidly in the nanotube.

                The nanocells are evident in all our cells, where they regulate fluid flows acrosscell membranes. Introducing the recent fluid dynamic principles will develop the medical field in the handling of fluid flow in the human body to save precious life. Also, the promising application could be utilized in the water desalination; water treatment; chemical separations; water filtration; nanotube power batteries; fabrication of quantum dots and nanocrystals which is vital in the electronic industry.