Abstract
A thermal nanomotor is relatively easy to fabricate and regulate as it contains just a few or even no accessory devices. Since the double-wall carbon nanotube (CNT)-based rotary nanomotor was established in a thermostat, assessment of the rotation of the rotor (inner tube) in the stator (outer tube) of the nanomotor has been critical, but remains challenging due to two factors: the small size of the rotor (only a few nanometers) and the high rotational frequency (»1 GHz). To measure the rotation of the nanomotor, in the present study, a probe test method is proposed. Briefly, the rotor is connected to an end-tube (CNT) through a graphene (GN) nanoribbon. As the CNT-probe is on the trajectory of the end-tube which rotates with the rotor, it will collide with the end-tube. The sharp fluctuation indicating the probe tip deflection can be observed and recorded. As a curly GN by hydrogenation is adopted for connecting the rotor and the end-tube, collision between the end-tube and the probe tip occurs only when the centrifugal force is higher than a threshold which can be considered as the rotational frequency of the rotor being measured by the present method.
Highlights
A thermal nanomotor is relatively easy to fabricate and regulate as it contains just a few or even no accessory devices
When the rotation of the rotor is actuated by the stators with IRD atoms, the end-tube on the wing may collide with the probe tip
Results from the numerical experiments above support following remarkable conclusions: (1) The deflection of the probe tip changes steeply due to collisions with the end tube
Summary
To derive a precise description of the interaction among carbon and/or hydrogen atoms, AIREBO28 potential is adopted. That potential is popular in carbon/hydrogen system simulation studies[17,21,29,30,31,32]. The potential contains three parts, REBO, Lennard-Jones (L-J), and torsion. The cut-off of the L-J potential is three times 0.34 nm. Energy minimization for the system is carried out using the steepest descending algorithm. Minimization, the carbon atoms on the stators are fixed and the light blue carbon atoms on the four circular lines of the end of probe are fixed (Fig. 1(b,e)).
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