Hydrogen bond network in the hydration layer of the water confined in nanotubes increasing the dielectric constant parallel along the nanotube axis

The water confined in nanotubes has been extensively studied, because of the potential usages in drug delivery and desalination. The radial distribution of the dielectric constant parallel along the nanotube axis was obtained by molecular dynamics simulations in a carbon nanotube and a nanotube with a very small van der Waals potential. The confined water was divided into two parts, the middle part water and the hydration water. In both cases, the hydrogen bond orientation of the middle water is isotropic, while the hydrogen bonds in hydration layers are apt to parallel along the nanotube axis. Therefore, the hydration water has higher dipole correlations increasing the dielectric constant along the nanotube axis.