Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Pressure-Driven Water Flow In Silicon-Carbide Nanotubes

Many properties of silicon carbide (SiC) nanotubes, such as their high
mechanical strength, are superior to those of their carboneous counterparts,
namely, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and therefore can, in many cases be a viable
alternative to CNT in certain applications. We employ molecular dynamics
simulations to examine flow of water in SiC nanotubes and to study the
differences and similarities with the same phenomenon in the CNTs. The
simulations indicate that small SiC nanotubes provide larger flow enhancements
than those reported for the CNTs. Moreover, a given flow enhancement in SiC
nanotubes requires an applied pressure gradient that is about one order of
magnitude smaller than the corresponding value in a CNT of the same size.