Quantum mechanics

Scale (ratio)

Materials science

Computer science

Statistical physics

Computer network

Fluid dynamics

Physics

Bridging (networking)

Nanotechnology

Fluid mechanics

Nanofluidics

Nanoscopic scale

Statistical mechanics

Mechanics

Transport phenomena

Continuum mechanics

Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics

Nanofluidics has firmly established itself as a new field in fluid mechanics, as novel properties have been shown to emerge in fluids at the nanometric scale. Thanks to recent developments in fabrication technology, artificial nanofluidic systems are now being designed at the scale of biological nanopores. This ultimate step in scale reduction has pushed the development of new experimental techniques and new theoretical tools, bridging fluid mechanics, statistical mechanics and condensed matter physics. This review is intended as a toolbox for fluids at the nanometre scale. After presenting the basic equations that govern fluid behaviour in the continuum limit, we will show how these equations break down and new properties emerge in molecular scale confinement.

Fluids at the Nanoscale: From Continuum to Subcontinuum Transport