Dielectric properties of liquids confined in atomically thin nanochannels Mordjann Souilamas , R. Wang, S. Benaglia, Q. Yang, A. Esfandiar, A.K. Geim and L. Fumagalli University of Manchester, UK New advances in 2D heterostructure technology has allowed the controlled fabrication of arrays of nanochannels with thicknesses varying from a single atomic layer to tens of nanometers 1 . Fumagalli et al 2 were able to measure the out-of-plane dielectric constant, e ^ , of water for the first time under strong confinement in these nanochannels by in situ dielectric characterization based atomic force microscopy (scanning dielectric microscopy) 3 . This was the first time that this fundamental property was directly measured in such extreme confinement, despite its huge impact on a myriad of phenomena, including van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between surfaces, ion solvation and transport, and the functioning of biomolecules. By building on that work, we are continuing the study of water confined in nanochannels of different materials such as graphene, hBN and mica and investigate their impact on water’s dielectric properties. We are also studying the impact of confinement on the dielectric properties of electrolytic solutions and other solvents. References 1. B. Radha et al. Molecular transport through capillaries with atomic-scale precision. Nature 538, 222 (2016). 2. L. Fumagalli et al. Anomalously low dielectric constant of confined water. Science 360, 1339-1342 (2018). 3. L. Fumagalli et al. Label-free identification of single dielectric nanoparticles and viruses with ultraweak polarization forces. Nature Mater. 11, 808-816 (2012).
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