Molecular transport in the nanometer regime

Abstract

Properties of molecular transport in nanometer channels where the molecules move all or most of the time in interaction with the surface are shown to differ significantly from those in macroscopic structures. Apart from strong deviations from ordinary flow in its dependence on channel dimensions and temperature, under nonisothermal conditions a new phenomenon arises by the coupling of the molecular flow to the thermally induced phonon flux in the solid. Special attention is given to the manifestation of these effects in the thermomolecular pressure difference as it is the experimentally most easily accessible quantity.