Water inside carbon nanotubes: Structure and dynamics

Studying the properties of water confined in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have gained a lot of interest in recent years due to the vast potential applications of systems in nanoscale liquid transport as well as biology functions. This article presents a comprehensive review of recent experimental and theoretical results using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Different NMR methods including ¹H and ²H NMR line shapes, relaxation, and diffusion measurements are reviewed. In addition, we present a review of MD studies that explained the driving forces behind water filling, structure of confined water, and its flow in CNTs. Debatable issues in the results are pointed out, and several possible directions for future research, both experimentally and theoretically, are proposed.