Dynamic behavior of a rotary nanomotor in argon environments

Kun Cai,Jiao Shi,Jingzhou Yu,Qing H Qin

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-21694-2

Kun Cai, Jiao Shi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21694-2

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Abstract

When argon is used as a protecting gas in the fabrication or working environment of a nanodevice, absorption of some argon atoms onto the surface of the device lead to different responses. In this work, the rotation of the rotor in a carbon nanotube (CNT)-based rotary nanomotor in argon environment is investigated. In the rotary nanomotor, two outer CNTs act as the stator and are used to constrain the inner CNT (i.e., the rotor). The rotor is driven to rotate by the stator due to their collision during thermal vibration of their atoms. A stable rotational frequency (SRF) of the rotor occurs when the rotor reaches a dynamic equilibrium state. The value of the SRF decreases exponentially with an increase in the initial argon density. At dynamic equilibrium date, some of the argon atoms rotate synchronously with the rotor when they are absorbed onto either internal or external surface of the rotor. The interaction between the rest of the argon atoms and the rotor is stronger at higher densities of argon, resulting in lower values of the SRF. These principles provide insight for future experimentation and fabrication of such rotary nanomotor.

Highlights

When argon is used as a protecting gas in the fabrication or working environment of a nanodevice, absorption of some argon atoms onto the surface of the device lead to different responses
In their molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, they found that the free inner tube could have a stable rotation at the frequency of ~100 GHz when the inner tube was put in an outer tube that was fixed after relaxation
When a thermally-driven rotary nanomotor (TRnM) is placed in an argon environment[36,37] rather than an absolute vacuum, the argon atoms may be attracted onto the carbon nanotube (CNT) and rotate together with the rotor

Summary

OPEN Dynamic behavior of a rotary nanomotor in argon environments

When argon is used as a protecting gas in the fabrication or working environment of a nanodevice, absorption of some argon atoms onto the surface of the device lead to different responses. The rotation of the rotor in a carbon nanotube (CNT)-based rotary nanomotor in argon environment is investigated. The rotor is driven to rotate by the stator due to their collision during thermal vibration of their atoms. The interaction between the rest of the argon atoms and the rotor is stronger at higher densities of argon, resulting in lower values of the SRF These principles provide insight for future experimentation and fabrication of such rotary nanomotor. Using the electron tunneling property, Wang et al.[17] designed a rotary nanomotor from carbon nanostructures, in which fullerene blades on a CNT-based shaft were charged/discharged periodically and driven to rotate. When a TRnM is placed in an argon environment[36,37] rather than an absolute vacuum, the argon atoms may be attracted onto the CNTs and rotate together with the rotor. Only 3 × 3 boxes are used (Fig. 1e)

Atom i C Ar C

Conclusions

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