Statics and dynamics of fluids in nanotubes

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the statics and dynamics of nanotubes by using the methods of continuum mechanics. The nanotube can be filled with only a liquid or a vapour phase according to the physicochemical characteristics of the wall and to the disjoining pressure associated with the liquid and vapour mother bulks of the fluid, regardless of the nature of the external mother bulk. In dynamics, flows through nanotubes can be much more important than classical Poiseuille flows. When the external mother bulk is of vapour, the flow can be a million times larger than the classical flows when slippage on wall does not exist.