Dynamic Control of Nanopore Wetting in Water and Saline Solutions under an Electric Field

Field-induced nanopore wetting by aqueous solutions, including electrolytes, provides opportunities for a variety of applications. Conflicting porosity requirements have so far precluded direct implementations of a two-way control: the pores have to be sufficiently wide to allow water infiltration at experimentally relevant voltages but should not exceed the kinetic threshold for spontaneous expulsion in the absence of the field. Applicable widths are restricted below a few nanometers. Only a narrow window of fields and pore geometries can simultaneously satisfy both of the above requirements. Accurate accounts of wetting equilibria and dynamics at nanoscale porosity require molecular level descriptions. Here we use molecular dynamics simulations to study dynamic, field-controlled transitions between nanoconfined liquid and vapor phases in contact with an unperturbed aqueous or electrolyte environment. In nanopores wetted by electrolyte solutions, we observe depletion of salt compared to the bulk phase. The application of a local electric field enhances the uptake of water and ions in the confinement. In systems prone to capillary evaporation, the process can be reversed at sufficient strength of the electric field. For alternating displacement field, we identify the conditions where O (ns) responses of the reversible infiltration/expulsion cycle can be secured for experimentally realizable field strengths, porosity, and salinity of the solution.