title: Vibrating-charge-driven water pump controlled by the deformation of the carbon nanotube.
abstract: The directed transport of water molecules in a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) based on a ratchet effect is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The system is driven far away from thermal equilibrium by an additional deterministic perturbation of a vibrating charge, and the spatial inversion symmetry is broken by the continuous deformations of the SWNT. It is well-known that the water flux across a circular channel decreases when the channel is narrowed or deformed. However, our simulation results show that the water flux almost increases linearly within a deformation of 1.9 Å. There exists an optimized value of deformation at which the pumping capacity takes its maximum value. Moreover, the direction of transport even exhibits a change of sign with narrowing the carbon nanotube.
authors: Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical Physics, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors: Xiaoyan
authors: X
authors: Zhou
authors: Fengmin
authors: F
authors: Wu
authors: Jianlong
authors: J
authors: Kou
authors: Xuanchuan
authors: X
authors: Nie
authors: Yang
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: Hangjun
authors: H
authors: Lu
mesh_terms: D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D016014:Linear Models; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity; D014732:Vibration; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D014867:Water