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Unprecedentedly rapid transport of single-file rolling water molecules

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Abstract

The realization of rapid and unidirectional single-file water-molecule flow in nanochannels has posed a challenge to date. Here, we report unprecedentedly rapid unidirectional single-file water-molecule flow under a translational terahertz electric field, which is obtained by developing a Debye doublerelaxation theory. In addition, we demonstrate that all the single-file molecules undergo both stable translation and rotation, behaving like high-speed train wheels moving along a railway track. Independent molecular dynamics simulations help to confirm these theoretical results. The mechanism involves the resonant relaxation dynamics of H and O atoms. Further, an experimental demonstration is suggested and discussed. This work has implications for the design of high-efficiency nanochannels or smaller nanomachines in the field of nanotechnology, and the findings also aid in the understanding and control of water flow across biological nanochannels in biology-related research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Tong Qiu  (邱桐) & Ji-Ping Huang  (黄吉平)

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  1. Tong Qiu  (邱桐)
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  2. Ji-Ping Huang  (黄吉平)
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Correspondence to Tong Qiu  (邱桐).

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Qiu, T., Huang, JP. Unprecedentedly rapid transport of single-file rolling water molecules. Front. Phys. 10, 106102 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-015-0511-z

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