Nanoscale confinement of water probed by an extremely sensitive mechanical resonator – COWAT

Water is by far the most important and most studied fluid of all times, but the physics of water confined at the nanoscale remains largely mysterious, despite its major implication in numerous fields. In the project COWAT, we aim at measuring for the first time the properties of water confined at the nanoscale inside an individual, narrow (? 1.4 nm) carbon nanotube.
We will make use of the exquisite sensitivity of the nanotube mechanical resonators, down to a single proton, to characterize both the hydrogen bond network and the transport properties of water confined at the nanoscale. We will be able to answer several open question in the nanofluidic community, among which the origin of fast water flow inside narrow carbon nanotube.