Ion and water transport through (7, 7) and (8, 8) carbon and boron nitride nanotubes of different electric fields: A molecular dynamics simulation study

چکیده مقاله

By molecular dynamics simulation method, the transport of Mg²⁺and Cl^-ions and water molecules across (7, 7) and (8, 8) carbon and boron nitride nanotubes have been studied. The simulated systems composed of a carbon, or boron nitride nanotube inserted in a silicon nitride membrane immersed in the aqueous ionic solution, in the presence of an electrical field. Some of the simulated properties including the ionic current, the retention time of the ions, ion-water radial distribution functions, and normalized transport rate of water with respect to the number of transported ions have been calculated. The results show that the permeation of ions across the nanotubes is dependent on the diameter of the considered nanotubes. Hence, based on the present study, these systems can be suggested as preliminary models for ion-channels and water desalinating devices. Copyright © 2014 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.