Experimental Methods for Nanofluidics: Focus On Sealing Technology for Delicate Nanomaterials

Abstract

Being the primordial solvent of life, water is essential to living organisms and human societies. The primordial role of water can be related to its unique physical properties particularly due to the structure of its hydrogen bond network or its dipolar moment. In extreme confinement situation, such as inside nanoscale channels, important modifications of these features are expected. Thus, many theoretical predicted that confined water in extremely small diameter pores exhibits unusual phase behavior[1] and structure compared to bulk water. Thanks to their stiffness, hydrophobic smooth surface and high aspect ratio, Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) can be considered as a model nanochannel to get insight into the confinement of water molecules. As for instance, it was calculated that the phase of confined water in SWCNT which diameter is smaller than 1.4nm, behaves as ice-like water with structures from single file water chain to pentagonal or hexagonal