| The properties of molecular assemblies confined in pores a few nanometers across play a dominant role in phenomena ranging from clay swelling, frost heave, oil recovery and catalysis, to colloidal stability, protein folding and transport in cells and tissues. Therefore the advent of tailorable nanoporous membranes, most prominently arrays of carbon nanotube bundles, of silicon, silica and alumina channels, has led to a growing interest in the equilibrium and non-equilibrium behavior of liquids confined in such restricted geometries. In my talk I will present experiments on the self-diffusion and on capillary imbibition of liquids as a function of the complexity of their building blocks (water, linear hydrocarbons, liquid crystals, polymers) in nanoporous environments. Depending on the molecular species investigated a remarkable robustness of macroscopic concepts, however, also significant deviations from the bulk behavior are observable. |
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