Abstract:

The behavior of water, salt ions, and biomolecules at the nanometer scale is fundamental to processes in biology, ecology, and a host of important technologies from water purification to hydraulic fracturing. Our ability to probe that behavior has advanced rapidly in recent years, thanks to parallel advances in our ability to create fluidic structures with nanometer precision. A wealth of new phenomena is emerging in experiments. In this talk, I will discuss recent results from my group and that of my collaborators on nanopores, nanolfluidic channels, and nanotubes that highlight new frontiers of nanofluidics research. The emerging themes include: mechanical instabilities in single molecules; the breakdown of the continuum picture of fluid mechanics; interfacial phenomena that harness osmotic energy in unconventional ways; nonequilibrium phenomena; and hydrodynamic slip inside nanotubes and the unexpected link it makes between hard and soft condensed matter physics.