The structure and dynamics of water inside armchair carbon nanotube

In this paper we present some simulation results about the behaviour of water molecules inside a single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT). We find that the confinement of water in an SWNT can induce a wave-like pattern distribution along the channel axis, similar phenomena are also observed in biological water channels. Carbon nanotubes(CNTs) can serve as simple nonpolar water channels. Molecular transport through narrow CNTs is highly collective because of tight hydrogen bonds in the protective environment of the pore. The hydrogen bond net is important for proton and other signal transports. The average dipoles of water molecules inside CNTs (7,7), (8,8) and (9,9) are discussed in detail. Simulation results indicate that the states of dipole are affected by the diameter of SWNT. The number of hydrogen bonds, the water--water interaction and water--CNT interaction are also studied in this paper.     

碳纳米管阵列水渗透性质的研究

碳纳米管阵列组成的碳纳米管分子膜在生物学分子器件等方面有重要应用. 本文利用分子动力学方法计算研究水分子对(11, 11)碳纳米管阵列的渗透过程. 结果发现, 只有当阵列间隙面积大于57.91 Ų时, 水分子才能进入阵列间隙中, 并揭示了碳管内部、阵列间隙内水分子结构随相邻碳管间距变化的演化趋势以及管内外水分子电偶极矩的分布特性.     

Gating of Water Flow Induced by Bending of a Carbon Nanotube

The ON-OFF state transition of the water transport induced by the structural bending of a carbon nanotube is studied by molecule dynamics simulation. The water permeation through a bent carbon nanotube shows excellent gating property with a threshold bending angle of about 14.6°. We also investigate the water density distribution inside the nanochannel to illustrate the mechanism.     

HXD中XH拉伸振动的振动跃迁偶极矩方向的理论研究

本文利用局域模研究了“重轻”体系简单分子XH伸缩振动的实验振动光谱. 键偶极方法进一步为实验光谱分析提供了帮助(假设XH伸缩振动的跃迁偶极矩沿着XH键方向排列). 通过局域模和多维简正模对HOD,HND^-,HCD,HSD,HPD^-和HSiD的XH伸缩振动的理论计算, XH伸缩振动的局部1D图片可以用于分析跃迁偶极矩倾斜角度. 在HOD分子中,OH伸缩振动的跃迁偶极矩远离OH键并且向远离OD键的方向倾斜;在HSD,HND^-,HPD^-,HCD和HSiD分子中的XH伸缩振动远离OH键,但朝向OD键,表明键偶极近似法不能很好地适用于“重轻体系”分子,重原子X可以影响跃迁偶极矩方向. 利用分子中原子理论分析了偶极矩的变化.     

The electrical conduction variation in stained carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes become stained from coupling with foreign molecules, especially from adsorbing gas molecules. The charge exchange, which is due to the orbital hybridization, occurred in the stained carbon nanotube induces electrical dipoles that consequently vary the electrical conduction of the nanotube. We propose a microscopic model to evaluate the electrical current variation produced by the induced electrical dipoles in a stained zigzag carbon nanotube. It is found that stronger orbital hybridization strengths and larger orbital energy differences between the carbon nanotube and the gas molecules help increasing the induced electrical dipole moment. Compared with the stain-free carbon nanotube, the induced electrical dipoles suppress the current in the nanotube. In the carbon nanotubes with induced dipoles the current increases as a result of increasing orbital energy dispersion via stronger hybridization couplings. In particular, at a fixed hybridization coupling, the current increases with the bond length for the donor-carbon nanotube but reversely for the acceptor-carbon nanotube.     

Control of the motion of nanoelectromechanical systems based on carbon nanotubes

A new method is proposed for controlling the motion of nanoelectromechanical systems based on carbon nanotubes. In this method, a single-walled nanotube acquires an electric dipole moment owing to the chemical adsorption of atoms or molecules at open ends of the nanotube and, then, the electric dipole moment thus induced can be set in motion under the effect of a nonuniform electric field. The electric dipole moments of chemically modified nanotubes are calculated for the first time. The possibility of controlling the motion of nanotube-based nanoelectromechanical systems with the proposed method is demonstrated using a gigahertz oscillator as an example. The operating characteristics of the gigahertz oscillator and the controlling electric field are calculated.     

The dipole moment distribution on water is improved by using large flexibility and large bending angle

A highly flexible model of water with fixed charges is used to study properties of water. The bending angle of an isolated molecule is 125^○ that was chosen to match the experimental dipole moment. The geometry of water in the liquid phase is made closer to that of the rigid SPC/E model by decreasing the bending angle spring constant, k _Θ. The new model, called SPCE-FHΘ, is a modified version of the recently proposed SPCE-FH [J. Alejandre, G.A. Chapela, F. Bresme and J.-P. Hansen, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 174505 (2009)] to simulate ionic solutions which includes short ranged interactions on the hydrogen atoms. By increasing angle flexibility it is possible to obtain, in the liquid phase at ambient conditions, bending angles ?Θ(HOH)? ～ 109^○, dipole moment ?μ? ～ 2.5 D and dielectric constant ?ε? ～ 80. The dipole moment distribution at room temperature goes from 1.5 to 3.5 D due to large fluctuations in bending angle and has the same trend found in ab initio simulations of liquid water. The dipole moment profile at the interface of water varies from 1.9 D in the vapour phase to 2.5 D in the liquid region at 400 K. The SPCE-FHΘ gives dipole moment, dielectric constant, coexisting densities and surface tension along the liquid–vapour coexistence line closer to the experimental values than those obtained for the SPC/E force field.     

The 5V(OH) Overtone Transition of HDO

The absorption spectrum of HDO has been recorded by intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy in the 16 540-17 055 cm(-1) spectral region corresponding to the 5nu(3) band centered at 16 920 cm(-1). The (0 0 5) vibrational state is found to be mostly isolated from the nearby rovibrational states. The corresponding rovibrational transitions were analyzed and fitted in the frame of the effective rotational Hamiltonian model in Pade-Borel approximants form. The spectroscopic parameters retrieved from the fitting reproduce 100 of the 109 determined energy levels with the root-mean-square deviation of 0.0072 cm(-1), close to the experimental accuracy. From the integrated relative intensities of a- and b-type transitions, the angle between the transition moment and the OH bond is estimated to be 46.4 degrees. This value is consistent with an increasing tilt of the transition dipole moment, away from the OH bond, when the OH stretching is excited. The evolution of the orientation of the transition dipole moment versus the vibrational excitation is then compared for the OH and OD overtone bands. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Control of the motion of nanoelectromechanical systems based on carbon nanotubes by electric fields

A new method is proposed for controlling the motion of nanoelectromechanical systems based on carbon nanotubes. In this method, a single-walled nanotube acquires an electric dipole moment owing to the chemical adsorption of atoms or molecules at open ends of the nanotube. The electric dipole moments of carbon nanotubes with chemically modified ends are calculated by the molecular orbital method. These nanotubes can be set in motion under the effect of a nonuniform electric field. The possibility of controlling the motion of nanoelectromechanical systems with the proposed method is demonstrated using a nanotube-based gigahertz oscillator as an example. The operating characteristics of the gigahertz oscillator are analyzed, and its operation is simulated by the molecular dynamics method. The controlling parameters and characteristics corresponding to the controlled operating conditions at a constant frequency for the system under investigation are determined.     

Water alignment and proton conduction inside carbon nanotubes

First-principles molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out to investigate the structure, electronic properties, and proton conductivity of water confined inside single-walled carbon nanotubes. The simulations predict the formation of a strongly connected one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded water wire resulting in a net electric dipole moment directed along the nanotube axis. An excess proton injected into the water wire is found to be significantly stabilized, relative to the gas phase, due to the high polarizability of the carbon nanotube.     

Modeling on ion rejection using membranes comprising ultra-small radii carbon nanotubes

In this paper, we investigate the complete ion rejection using carbon nanotube membranes comprising ultra-small radii nanotubes. Three acceptance radii for a water molecule, a sodium ion and a chloride ion are determined assuming the continuous approximation. Given the acceptance radii, we may confine the scope of the nanotube radius so that only water molecules can pass through but the heavier sodium and chloride ions are repulsed from the nanotube ends. We assume that the collective motion of water molecules inside a sufficiently long nanotube is driven by atomic vibrations so that classical phonon theory might be used to deduce the average water transit time inside the nanotube for ion rejection. We predict that for carbon nanotube membranes comprising nanotubes of radii lying between 3.4 and 3.9 ?, only water molecules will pass through, and sodium and chloride ions will not, which together using phonon theory, we deduce that the smaller the nanotube radius, the lower the average water transit time and the higher the efficiency of the membrane for ion rejection purposes. The present theoretical approach has the merit of rapid computational times and indicates those nanotube radii where future experimental work might be focussed.     

Single-file transport of water molecules through a carbon nanotube

Recent molecular dynamics simulations of water transport through the interior channel of a carbon nanotube in contact with an aqueous reservoir showed that conduction occurred in bursts with collective water motion. A continuous-time random-walk model is used to describe concerted transport through channels densely filled with molecules in a single-file arrangement, as also found in zeolites, as well as ion channels and aquaporins in biological membranes. Theoretical predictions for different collective properties of the single-file transport agree with the simulation results.     

Effect of Vibration on Water Transport through Carbon Nanotubes

We study the response of water permeation properties through a carbon nanotube on the time-dependent mechanical signals. It is found that there is a critical frequency of vibrating fc （about 1333 GHz） which plays a significant role in the water permeation properties. The total water flow, the net flux, the number of hydrogen bonds and the dipole flipping frequency of the single-file water chain inside the nanotube are almost unchanged for the frequency of vibrating f 〈 fc. Simulation results show that the nanotube can be effectively resistant to the mechanical noise. Such excellent effect of noise screening is attributed to the exceptional property of water molecules connected by strong hydrogen bonds with each other and forming a one-dimensional water chain inside the nanotube. Our findings are important for the understanding of why biological systems can achieve accurate information transfer in an environment full of fluctuations.     

Translocation of DNA oligonucleotide through carbon nanotube channels under induced pressure difference

This paper presents molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of DNA oligonucleotide and water molecules translocating through carbon nanotube (CNT) channels. Induced pressure difference is applied to the system by pushing a layer of water molecules towards the flow direction to drive the oligonucleotide and other molecules. This novel MD simulation investigates the flow behaviour of oligonucleotide and water molecules in nanochannel while controlling the temperature and volume of the system in canonical ensemble. The results show that the oligonucleotide is unable to translocate through the (8, 8)-(12, 12) CNT channel under the induced pressures applied. However, the oligonucleotide can transport through the (10, 10)-(14, 14) CNT channel easily under the same induced pressures. It is observed that less water molecules permeate through the center of the (8, 8)-(12, 12) CNT channel as the strength of the induced pressure is increased. In contrast, more water molecules flow through the (10, 10)-(14, 14) CNT channel at a higher induced pressure. The conformational energy of the oligonucleotide in the CNT channels has been shown to be affected by both the strength of the induced pressure and the size of the nanotube. Although the interactive force between oligonucleotide and CNT channel is dependent on their distance apart, the induced pressure within the (8, 8)-(12, 12) nanotube channel acts as an external factor that affects the distance between the oligonucleotide and the CNT junction. The insertion depth of the oligonucleotide in the (8, 8)-(12, 12) CNT channel relies on the magnitude of the induced pressure. Both the velocity of oligonucleotide and the interactive force between oligonucleotide and nanotube wall are shown to increase when the oligonucleotide is travelling through the narrower part of the (10, 10)-(14, 14) CNT channel.     

Metallization of the semiconducting carbon nanotube by encapsulated bromine molecules

We use ab initio density-functional calculations to investigate the electronic structure of the bromine-adsorbed carbon nanotubes. When a Br₂ molecule is inside the (10,0) carbon nanotube, a trace of electron charge transfers from the nanotube to the Br₂ adsorbate, resulting in an increased Br–Br bond length. When the supercell contains two Br₂ molecules, total energy calculations reveal the formation of a linear chain of bromine atoms inside the carbon nanotube. Electron transfer from the nanotube to the atomic chains of the bromine adsorbates is much enhanced even in large-diameter nanotubes. We suggest that an exposure of the tip-opened carbon nanotube samples to a modest Br₂ partial pressure could result in a strong hole-doping of the nanotube, which makes the semiconducting nanotubes nearly metallic.     

How polar hydroxyl groups affect surface hydrophobicity on model talc surfaces

Based on molecular dynamics simulations, we have studied the wetting behaviors of water on the talc-like surface with different surface polarity by modifying the charge distribution of surface hydroxyl (–OH) groups. With the change of the charge of the hydrogen atom (denoted as δ_q) in –OH group, the contact angle decreases from 91° to 50° and then remains constant. On the surfaces with the larger charge of hydrogen atoms (δ_q ≥ 0.2 e), a water droplet is formed above a water monolayer, which is exactly contacted on the surface. Each water molecule in the monolayer forms one hydrogen bond (H bond) with surface –OH groups, without participating in any H bond with the water molecules within the monolayer or with the water molecules above the monolayer. The polarity of the –OH group also has a great influence on the dynamic behaviors of the interface water, such as residence time, hydrogen bond lifetime and self-diffusion coefficient. The diffusion of water molecules in the water monolayer near the highly polar surface is greatly suppressed, and the residence time of water molecules in the water monolayer even exceeds 12 ns.     

Variation of Dipole Moment Function of O-H Bond of t-Butanol with the Nature of Solvent and Its Temperature

The intermolecular influence on dipole moment function is evaluated for O-H bond of t-butanol in different nonpolar solvents at temperatures ranging from 10° to 60°C employing IR band intensities of fundamental and first overtone bands. Two sets of dipole moment derivatives have been calculated corresponding to – and +- combinations of the transition moment matrix elements R₁₀ and R₂₀, the values for ++ and -+ combinations are equal in magnitude to those for - and +- combinations, respectively and opposite in signs. In general the dipole moment derivatives increase on lowering the temperature as well as with increasing molecular interactions with the solvent molecules. Dipole moment plots with dimensionless coordinate ξ [=(r-r_e)/r_e, where r and r_e are internuclear distances during vibration and at equilibrium, respectively] are reported for various systems considered. It is found that for +- combination the dipole moment maximum shifts to higher internuclear distances when polarisation of the solute molecules is increased by lowering of temperature or increase in molecular interactions between solute and solvent molecules. A reverse trend is observed for – combination.- The OH band of t-butanol vapor has been measured.     

Giant thermopower effects from molecular physisorption on carbon nanotubes

Results are presented of in situ studies of the thermoelectric power and four-probe resistance of single-walled carbon nanotube films during the adsorption of cyclic hydrocarbons C(6)H(2n) (n=3-6). The size of the change in these transport parameters is found to be related to the pi electron population of the molecule, suggesting the coupling between these pi electrons and those in the nanotube wall may be responsible for the observed effects. A transport model for the SWNT film behavior is presented, incorporating the effects of a new scattering channel associated with the adsorbed molecules.     

Methane in carbon nanotube: molecular dynamics simulation

The behaviour of methane molecules inside carbon nanotubes at room temperature is studied using classical molecular dynamics simulations. A methane molecule is represented either by a shapeless super-atom or by a rigid set of five interaction centres localized on atoms. Different loadings of methane molecules ranging from the dense gas density to the liquid density, and the influence of flexibility of the CNT on structural and dynamic properties of confined molecules are considered. The simulation results show the decreases of the diffusion coefficient of methane molecules with density. At higher densities diffusion coefficient values are almost independent of molecular shape, but at low densities one observes faster motion of the super-atom molecule than that for the tetrahedral model of the molecule. For loadings of methane considered here the nanotube flexibility, introduced by the reactive empirical bond order (REBO) potential for interactions between carbon atoms of nanotube, does not have an effect on diffusivity of methane molecules, and its impact on the molecular structure is weak. It is found that methane molecules in the vicinity of the nanotube wall show tripod orientation with respect to the nanotube surface.     

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Acting as Controllable Transport Channels

The motion and equilibrium distribution of water molecules adsorbed inside neutral and negatively charged singlewalled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been studied using molecular dynamics simulations (MDSs) at room temperature based on CHARMM (Chemistry at HARvard Molecular Mechanics) potential parameters. We find that water molecules have a conspicuous electropism phenomenon and regular tubule patterns inside and outside the charged tube wall. The analyses of the motion behaviour of water molecules in the radial and axial directions show that by charging the SWNT, the adsorption efficiency is greatly enhanced, and the electric field produced by the charged SWNTs prevents water molecules from flowing out of the nanotube. However, water molecules can travel through the neutral SWNT in a fluctuating manner. This indicates that by electrically charging and uncharging the SWNTs, one can control the adsorption and transport behaviour of polar molecules in SWNTs for using as a stable storage medium or long transport channels. The transport velocity can be tailored by changing the charge on the SWNTs, which may have a further application as modulatable transport channels.