Regulating structure and flow of ionic liquid confined in nanochannel using water and electric field

•Structure and flow of IL with water and electric field in nanochannel are studied.•Water and electric field can weaken the stratification effect of density.•Adding water improves flow velocity of [EMIM][BF4] and changes its flow state.•Electric field in flow direction can accelerate the flow of [EMIM][BF4]. Developing regulation method for the structure and flow of ionic liquids (ILs) in the nanochannel is of great importance to their application in nanodevice. For this purpose, the density and charge distribution and the flow behavior of [EMIM][BF4] blended with water as diluent and imposed electric field in nanochannel are studied using molecular dynamic simulation method in this work. The results reveal that the addition of water can weaken the stratification effect of density and charge distribution while doesn’t significantly change the micro-structure of [EMIM][BF4], while the electric field in different directions results different influence on the stratification effect. Addition of water can make a significant improvement in the flow velocity of [EMIM][BF4] and change its flow state. Imposing electric field in flow direction can accelerate the flow, but imposing electric field perpendicular to nanochannel handles the flow.