Air flow through carbon nanotube arrays

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the air flow through carbon nanotube arrays. We found that for 1.4nm diameter tubes separated by 25nm, the air flow can be well described by the free molecular flow theory. We estimate that for such array, the pressure gradient is about 0.1atm∕μm at 1atm air pressure and 5m∕s flow velocity, indicating that the flowing air can only pass through an array of no more than about 400 carbon nanotubes in series. Our findings provide design rules for arrays of nanotubes for thermal energy exchange with air.

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