Summary: Separation of gases from gas­water mixtures using carbon nanotubes
Joonho Lee and N. R. Alurua
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science
and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
Received 10 December 2009; accepted 8 March 2010; published online 31 March 2010
We investigate equilibrium transport of gas­water mixtures, such as CO2­water, O2­water and
H2­water mixtures, in carbon nanotubes using molecular dynamics simulations. Our results indicate
that gases are selectively physisorbed in carbon nanotubes forming single-file gas chains. Once the
single-file gas chains are formed, they prevent entry of water into the nanotube, suggesting that the
presence of gas molecules can significantly affect the equilibrium transport of water in carbon
nanotubes. The diffusion of single-file gas chains in nanotubes for gas­water mixtures is found to
be lower compared to the single-file diffusion of gases in gas­only cases. © 2010 American Institute
of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3374363
The transport of water and gases through carbon nano-
tubes CNTs has been investigated extensively.1­4
The re-
markably smooth structure of CNT makes it a promising
material for various applications relying on fast transport of
water and gases.3,5
Furthermore, CNTs, similar to activated

Source: Aluru, Narayana R. - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Collections: Engineering; Materials Science