On phonons and water flow enhancement in carbon nanotubes

The intriguing physics of water transport through carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has motivated numerous studies, reporting flow rates higher than those estimated by continuum models1. The quantification of water transport in CNTs remains unresolved, however, with flow rates reported by different experiments and simulations having discrepancies of over three orders of magnitude. Reports of ultrafast2,3,4,5 and more modest rates6,7,8,9 conflict with each other. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to resolve this puzzle by helping to decipher how the CNT walls interact with water molecules