Universal Murray's law for optimised fluid transport in synthetic structures

TL;DR

This paper introduces a universal Murray's law applicable to diverse hierarchical structures, validated through experiments with graphene aerogels, enabling enhanced mass transfer for applications like sensing and catalysis.

Contribution

It proposes a generalized Murray's law for synthetic structures, overcoming previous limitations in constructing biomimetic channels with optimal flow properties.

Findings

Validated the universal Murray's law experimentally in graphene aerogels.

Achieved improved sensor response by tuning macroscopic pores.

Demonstrated superior fluid flow in hierarchical structures.

Abstract

Materials following Murray's law are of significant interest due to their unique porous structure and optimal mass transfer ability. However, it is challenging to construct such biomimetic hierarchical channels with perfectly cylindrical pores in synthetic systems following the existing theory. Achieving superior mass transport capacity revealed by Murray's law in nanostructured materials has thus far remained out of reach. We propose a Universal Murray's law applicable to a wide range of hierarchical structures, shapes and generalised transfer processes. We experimentally demonstrate optimal flow of various fluids in hierarchically planar and tubular graphene aerogel structures to validate the proposed law. By adjusting the macroscopic pores in such aerogel-based gas sensors, we also show a significantly improved sensor response dynamic. Our work provides a solid framework for designing synthetic Murray materials with arbitrarily shaped channels for superior mass transfer capabilities, with future implications in catalysis, sensing and energy applications.