ABSTRACT
Liquid behavior in nanoporous media has been studied in disciplines as diverse as membrane science, soil permeability, and cell physiology. The widespread availability of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has led to a renewed interest in investigating the effect of nanoscale confinement on liquid behavior. Focus has been placed primarily on the filling of CNTs by different materials, as well as fluid flow through the carbon nanotubes. This chapter focuses on the numerical and experimental results of contact angle and surface tension measurements inside CNTs, covering the growing field of contact angle measurements on CNT films. Whether liquids, and water in particular, wet CNTs in the same way they wet graphite is an open question, especially in the field of numerical simulations where the choice of the carbon–water interaction potential can alter significantly the extent of spreading of liquid on graphitic carbon.
