Transport of liquids and solute materials in nanochannels
AssigneeApplied Thin Films, Inc.
InventorsSankar Sambasivan, Francis R Chapman, Jeffrey W. Donelan, Christopher J. Garcia
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Abstract
Transport of a vaporizable liquid containing at least one solute through a material containing nanochannels is performed by contacting material with at least one vaporizable liquid component and inducing liquid transport along nanochannel interior wall surfaces, wherein the material contains nanochannels having an average diameter up to about 300 nm, preferably up to about 100 nm, and liquid transport is induced by partial liquid vaporization. A film of solid material is deposited onto an interior nanochannel wall surface by removing the transport liquid.
Claims22
A method of transporting a liquid through a material containing nanochannels, the method comprising:
- contacting a surface of the material with the liquid, the liquid containing at least one solute and at least one vaporizable solvent, diameters of the nanochannels not exceeding about 300 nm, and the nanochannels being in open communication with the surface of the material;
- and
- maintaining contact of the liquid with the surface of the material under temperature and pressure conditions sufficient to cause a partial vaporization of the vaporizable solvent;
- wherein the maintaining step causes the partial vaporization of the vaporizable solvent within the nanochannels;
- and
- wherein said partial vaporization of the vaporizable solvent causes the liquid to be transported as annular flow along interior wall surfaces of the nanochannels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.