期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2020
卷号：117
期号：41
页码：25246-25253
DOI：10.1073/pnas.2009310117
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：The suspension of nanoporous particles in a nonwetting liquid provides a unique solution to the crux of superfluid, sensing, and energy conversion, yet is challenged by the incomplete outflow of intruded liquid out of nanopores for the system reusability. We report that a continuous and spontaneous liquid outflow from hydrophobic nanopores with high and stable efficiency can be achieved by regulating the confinement of solid–liquid interactions with functionalized nanopores or/and liquids. Full-scale molecular-dynamics simulations reveal that the grafted silyl chains on nanopore wall surfaces will promote the hydrophobic confinement of liquid molecules and facilitate the molecular outflow; by contrast, the introduction of ions in the liquid weakens the hydrophobic confinement and congests the molecular outflow. Both one-step and multistep well-designed quasistatic compression experiments on a series of nanopores/nonwetting liquid material systems have been performed, and the results confirm the outflow mechanism in remarkable agreement with simulations. This study offers a fundamental understanding of the outflow of confined liquid from hydrophobic nanopores, potentially useful for devising emerging nanoporous-liquid functional systems with reliable and robust reusability.
