Water boiling inside carbon nanotubes: toward efficient drug release.

Abstract

We show using molecular dynamics simulation that spatial confinement of water inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) substantially increases its boiling temperature and that a small temperature growth above the boiling point dramatically raises the inside pressure. Capillary theory successfully predicts the boiling point elevation down to 2 nm, below which large deviations between the theory and atomistic simulation take place. Water behaves qualitatively different inside narrow CNTs, exhibiting transition into an unusual phase, where pressure is gas-like and grows linearly with temperature, while the diffusion constant is temperature-independent. Precise control over boiling by CNT diameter, together with the rapid growth of inside pressure above the boiling point, suggests a novel drug delivery protocol. Polar drug molecules are packaged inside CNTs; the latter are delivered into living tissues and heated by laser. Solvent boiling facilitates drug release.