Theory of transport of long polymer molecules through carbon nanotube channels.
A theory of transport of long chain polymer molecules through carbon nanotube (CNT) channels is developed using the Fokker-Planck equation and direct molecular dynamics simulations. The mean transport or translocation time tau is found to depend on the chemical potential energy, the entropy, and the diffusion coefficient. A power law dependence tau approximately N2 is found, where N is the number of monomers in a molecule. For 10(5)-unit long polyethylene molecules, tau is estimated to be approximately 1 micros. The diffusion coefficient of long polymer molecules inside CNTs, like that of short ones, is found to be a few orders of magnitude larger than in ordinary silicate based zeolite systems.
Wei
Chenyu
C
NASA Ames Research Center, MS 229-1, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA. cwei@nas.nasa.gov
Srivastava
Deepak
D
D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers; D004247:DNA