Abstract

Nanofluidics involves the scientific investigation and technical application of fluid flow in systems where a relevant dimension lies between one and a hundred nanometers. This is the conventional definition of the field. In practice, relevant work encompasses flows through somewhat larger channels, up to a few hundred nanometers in a cross section. Research into fluid flow in this size regime has been greatly facilitated in recent years by the availability of nanoscale tubular carbon structures with intrinsically open central pores. Over 100 studies investigating fluid transport involving these materials have been published in the past decade. A number of reviews covering closely related aspects of nanofluidics have recently appeared (Bau et al., 2005; Eijkel, 2005; Nicholson and Quirke, 2006; Noy et al., 2007; Whitby and Quirke, 2007; Abgrall and Nguyen, 2008; Mattia and Gogotsi, 2008; Rasaiah et al., 2008; Schoch et al., 2008). Here, we review selected papers with an emphasis on fluid transport through the central pores of carbon tubes.