Ion Flow under an Applied Electric Field in Semiconducting and Metallic Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Measurements made by Li, et. al., showed that the flow rates of potassium ions through 11nm long, subnanometer diameter, metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes under an applied electric field are almost the same. In contrast, measurements of the electrical conductivity of potassium chloride solution through 100 long metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes with diameters between 2.6-5.4nm by Cui, et. al., show that the ionic conductivity in the semiconducting nanotubes is larger than that of the metallic nanotubes. Possible theoretical origins of these differences are explored in this article.