Fast reverse osmosis using boron nitride and carbon nanotubes

M. E. Suk; A. V. Raghunathan; N. R. Aluru

doi:10.1063/1.2907333

Fast reverse osmosis using boron nitride and carbon nanotubes

M. E. Suk, A. V. Raghunathan, N. R. Aluru

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We investigate reverse osmosis through commonly used polymeric and advanced inorganic nanotube based semipermeable membranes by performing nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Simulations indicate that there is a significantly higher water flux through boron-nitride nanotube (BNNT) and carbon nanotube (CNT) compared to a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) pore, and a slightly higher water flux through BNNT as compared to CNT. The calculated permeation coefficient is in reasonable agreement with the theoretical single-file "hopping" model. Potential of mean force analysis indicates that the irregular nature of PMMA pore surface can cause significant localized energy barriers inside the pore, thereby reducing the water flux.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	133120
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	92
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2907333
State	Published - 2008
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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10.1063/1.2907333

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Fast reverse osmosis using boron nitride and carbon nanotubes

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