Abstract
Nanotube can be used as a mass sensor. To design a mass sensor for evaluating a high-speed nanoparticle, in this study, we investigated the impact vibration of a cantilever nanobeam being transversally collided by a high-speed C60 at the beam's free end with an incident velocity of vIn. The capped beam contains alternately two boron nitride zones and two carbon zones on its cross section. Hence, the relaxed beam has elliptic cross section. The vibration properties were demonstrated by molecular dynamics simulation results. Beat vibration of a slim beam can be found easily. The 1st and the 2nd order natural frequencies (f1 and f2) of the beam illustrate the vibration of beam along the short and the long axes of its elliptic cross section, respectively. f2 decreases with increasing temperature. A minimal value of vIn leads to the local buckling of the beam, and a different minimal vIn leading to damage of the beam. For the same system at a specified temperature, f2 varies with vIn. When the beam bends almost uniformly, f2 decreases linearly with vIn. If vIn becomes higher, the beam has a cross section which buckles locally, and the buckling position varies during vibration. If vIn approaches the damage velocity, a fixed contraflexture point may appear on the beam due to its strong buckling. Above the damage velocity, f2 decreases sharply. These results have a potential application in design of a mass sensor.
Highlights
In recent years, nanosensors have wide applications in mass measurement, gas monitor, bio-medical and chemical probes due to their excellent s ensitivities1,2
The properties imply that a boron nitride carbon nanotube (BNCNT) may have better performance in mass measurement than the boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) or carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the same chirality index
Yang et al.24 discovered that the natural frequency of a BNCNT-based nanobeam decreases with the increasing of the incident velocity of nanoparticle
Summary
Nanosensors have wide applications in mass measurement, gas monitor, bio-medical and chemical probes due to their excellent s ensitivities. Li and Chou studied the two types of mass sensors from CNTs using molecular structural mechanics approach They proposed the relationship between the natural frequency and accuracy of ~ 1 zg (1 zg = 1 × 10–21 g). Gil-Santos et al. tested the mass and Young’s modulus of a sample by a cantilevered silicon nanowire with ~ 1 zg of accuracy Considering their similar mechanical properties, e.g., extremely high in-shell modulus and s trength, to CNTs, BNNTs are suitable for fabricating n anosensors. According to Gil-Santos’s conclusion, a BNCNT-based resonator should be effective for mass sensing of a moving atom attached on it. In those studies mentioned above, the nanoparticles stand still or move slowly on resonator. The properties of the nonlinear vibration were studied by molecular dynamics simulations with consideration of the effects of the incident path of fullerene, radii of tubes, and temperature
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