Influence of the Quantum Capacitance on Electrolyte Conductivity through Carbon Nanotubes

Théo Hennequin-Nespoulous (1, 2) , Manoel Manghi (1, 2) , Adrien Noury (3) , Francois Henn (3) , Vincent Jourdain (3) , John Palmeri (3)

1 PhyStat - Physique Statistique des Systèmes Complexes (LPT)
2 LPT - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
3 L2C - Laboratoire Charles Coulomb

In recent experiments, unprecedentedly large values for the conductivity of electrolytes through carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been measured, possibly owing to flow slip and a high pore surface charge density whose origin is still unknown. By accounting for the coupling between the {quantum} CNT and the {classical} electrolyte-filled pore capacitances, we study the case where a gate voltage is applied to the CNT. The computed surface charge and conductivity dependence on reservoir salt concentration and gate voltage are intimately connected to the CNT electronic density of states. This approach provides key insight into why metallic CNTs have larger conductivities than semi-conducting ones.

Mots clés: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft); Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall); FOS: Physical sciences

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Théo Hennequin-Nespoulous, Manoel Manghi, Adrien Noury, Francois Henn, Vincent Jourdain, et al.. Influence of the Quantum Capacitance on Electrolyte Conductivity through Carbon Nanotubes. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2024, 15 (8), pp.2177-2183. ⟨10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03248⟩. ⟨hal-04234607⟩