A detailed parametric study on the operating frequency of chloride ion-electrically charged carbon nanotube oscillators

Abstract

Fabrication of new types of nanoscale oscillators with enhanced operating frequency has become the focal centre of interest. The aim of this paper is to explore the mechanical oscillatory behaviour of chloride ion tunnelling through carbon nanotubes (CNTs) decorated with identical functional groups at both ends. To this end, our previously proposed analytical expression for total potential energy between an ion and a functionalized CNT is used to derive a new semi-analytical expression for the accurate evaluation of oscillation frequency. With respect to the proposed frequency formula obtained from the conservation of mechanical energy principle, a comprehensive study is conducted to gain an insight into the effects of different parameters such as, sign and magnitude of functional group charge, nanotube length and initial conditions on the operating frequency of chloride ion-electrically charged CNT oscillators. It is revealed that the presence of functional groups, especially ones with the opposite charges to the chloride ion, leads to enhancement of the maximum achievable frequency. It is further observed that optimal frequency is attained when the ion oscillates near the ends of a positively charged nanotube.