The seventh speaker of the webinar series Deep Diving into Physics, Dr. K. S. Vasu, Department of Physics, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France introduced the concepts of nanofluidic and its applications to our students.

Abstract:

Fluidic transport at the smallest scales unveils a wealth of unexpected behaviors (i.e., fast water transport, ion separation, and osmotic energy harvesting) due to a strong influence of surface effects, intermolecular forces, and discrete nature of fluid on transport mechanisms. Therefore, a systematic understanding of molecular transport through confined geometries is crucial for advancing nanofluidics into new avenues beyond passive sieving principles. In this presentation, I will discuss how carbon materials can be made extremely effective to achieve exotic ionic transport at the nanoscale, with a prospect for desalination. To this end, I will first describe confined ionic transport in graphene oxide membranes. Then I will demonstrate voltage and pressure-induced ionic transport in carbon nanochannels with a detailed analysis using a theoretical framework. Finally, I will conclude my presentation with a discussion on ongoing experiments to visualize minute fluidic transport emerging out of nanochannels.