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Water Flow through Interlayer Channels of Two-Dimensional Materials with Various Hydrophilicities
journal contribution
posted on 2018-06-17, 00:00 authored by Fang Xu, Yang Song, Mingjie Wei, Yong WangWater
transport through laminated membranes composed of two-dimensional
(2D) materials has gained considerable attention because of their
great potential in filtration and separation applications. However,
water transport between interlayers formed by 2D materials cannot
be comprehensively described by traditional transport theory because
different 2D materials have varying hydrophilicity, which strongly
affects water transport. Herein, we build interlayer channels formed
by 2D sheets with various hydrophilicities and investigate the pressure-driven
water transport via nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations.
The influence of channel hydrophilicity on water transport is dominant,
especially at the nanoscale. To model the water-transport phenomena
through channels with various hydrophilicities, we define a new slip
length to derive the appropriate equation. By two methods of calculating
the slip length based on the simulation results, we validate our derived
equation, which predicts the water flux in interlayer channels with
a large range of hydrophilicities from relatively hydrophobic (large
slip lengths) to extremely hydrophilic (negative slip lengths). This
work deepens the understanding of water transport through interlayer
channels and assists in the design of 2D material membranes for water
treatment.