Quasi-frictionless water flow in narrow carbon nanotubes

Recent experiments revealed surprisingly high water-flow rates in narrow carbon nanotubes, with permeabilities that tend to diverge when the nanotube diameter is decreased towards the nanometer scale. This physical phenomenon could not be explained within classical fluid mechanics, and could not even be reproduced by semi-classical molecular dynamics. Here we aim to investigate the problem from a quantum-mechanical viewpoint, starting from state of the art ab-initio simulations. Systematic characterization of water-nanotube interactions under different phases/conditions will help the comprehension of the subtle mechanisms that eventually cause quasi-frictionless flow. On the same basis, possible relations to superfluidity will be explored.