title: Fast diffusion of water nanodroplets on graphene.
abstract: Diffusion across surfaces generally involves motion on a vibrating but otherwise stationary substrate. Here, using molecular dynamics, we show that a layered material such as graphene opens up a new mechanism for surface diffusion whereby adsorbates are carried by propagating ripples in a motion similar to surfing. For water nanodroplets, we demonstrate that the mechanism leads to exceedingly fast diffusion that is 2-3 orders of magnitude faster than the self-diffusion of water molecules in liquid water. We also reveal the underlying principles that regulate this new mechanism for diffusion and show how it also applies to adsorbates other than water, thus opening up the prospect of achieving fast and controllable motion of adsorbates across material surfaces more generally.
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, 17-19 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AH, UK.|Department of Chemistry, University College London, London WC1H 0AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, 17-19 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AH, UK.|Laboratory for fundamental BioPhotonics (LBP), Institute of Bio-engineering (IBI), School of Engineering (STI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.|Laboratory of computational Science and Modeling (COSMO), Institute of Materials (IMX), School of Engineering (STI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tocci
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, 17-19 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AH, UK.|Department of Chemistry, University College London, London WC1H 0AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Angelos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Michaelides
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, 17-19 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AH, UK.|ETH, Zürich CH-8093, Switzerland.|EPF, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.|Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen CH-5232, Switzerland.|Bio Nano Consulting, The Gridiron Building, One Pancras Square London N1C 4AG, UK.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aeppli
mesh_terms: D004058:Diffusion; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D006108:Graphite