Ion Solvation and Transport in Narrow Carbon Nanotubes: Effects of Polarizability, Cation-πInteraction, and Confinement

Fikret Aydin, Alireza Moradzadeh, Camille L. Bilodeau, Edmond Y. Lau, Eric Schwegler, Narayana R. Aluru, Tuan Anh Pham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Understanding ion solvation and transport under confinement is critical for a wide range of emerging technologies, including water desalination and energy storage. While molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been widely used to study the behavior of confined ions, considerable deviations between simulation results depending on the specific treatment of intermolecular interactions remain. In the following, we present a systematic investigation of the structure and dynamics of two representative solutions, that is, KCl and LiCl, confined in narrow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a diameter of 1.1 and 1.5 nm, using a combination of first-principles and classical MD simulations. Our simulations show that the inclusion of both polarization and cation-πinteractions is essential for the description of ion solvation under confinement, particularly for large ions with weak hydration energies. Beyond the variation in ion solvation, we find that cation-πinteractions can significantly influence the transport properties of ions in CNTs, particularly for KCl, where our simulations point to a strong correlation between ion dehydration and diffusion. Our study highlights the complex interplay between nanoconfinement and specific intermolecular interactions that strongly control the solvation and transport properties of ions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1596-1605
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Chemical Theory and Computation
Volume17
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 9 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ion Solvation and Transport in Narrow Carbon Nanotubes: Effects of Polarizability, Cation-πInteraction, and Confinement'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this