Huang Jianzhang, Han Qiang
Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510640, People's Republic of China.
Nanotechnology. 2016 Apr 15;27(15):155501. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/15/155501. Epub 2016 Mar 2.
A controllable nanoscale rotating actuator system consisting of a double carbon nanotube and graphene driven by a temperature gradient is proposed, and its rotating dynamics performance and driving mechanism are investigated through molecular dynamics simulations. The outer tube exhibits stable pure rotation with certain orientation under temperature gradient and the steady rotational speed rises as the temperature gradient increases. It reveals that the driving torque is caused by the difference of atomic van der Waals potentials due to the temperature gradient and geometrical features of carbon nanotube. A theoretical model for driving torque is established based on lattice dynamics theory and its predicted results agree well with molecular dynamics simulations. Further discussion is taken according to the theoretical model. The work in this study would be a guide for design and application of controllable nanoscale rotating devices based on carbon nanotubes and graphene.
提出了一种由双壁碳纳米管和石墨烯组成的、由温度梯度驱动的可控纳米级旋转致动器系统，并通过分子动力学模拟研究了其旋转动力学性能和驱动机制。在外加温度梯度作用下，外管呈现出稳定的、具有特定取向的纯旋转运动，且稳定转速随温度梯度的增大而升高。研究表明，驱动扭矩是由温度梯度引起的原子间范德华势差以及碳纳米管的几何特征所致。基于晶格动力学理论建立了驱动扭矩的理论模型，其预测结果与分子动力学模拟结果吻合良好。并依据该理论模型进行了进一步讨论。本研究工作将为基于碳纳米管和石墨烯的可控纳米级旋转器件的设计与应用提供指导。
