Water mobility in MoS2 nanopores: effects of the dipole–dipole interaction on the physics of fluid transport

Abstract

Use of nanoscale materials is a promising desalination technology. While fast water flow in nanotubes is well understood, this is not the case for water permeability in single-layer membranes. The advances in nanofluidics have opened up the possibility to shift the permeability–selectivity tradeoff. The physical–chemical balance between nanopore size, shape, and charge might be the answer. In this work, we investigate the role of the MoS₂ nanopore charge distribution in water mobility by tuning its strength. We shed light on the competition between charge and nanopore size. The strong dipole interaction between water and the MoS₂ nanopore is responsible for adding a constraint to the water angular orientation possibilities to travel through the nanopore, but this effect also depends on the nanopore size.