Thermally driven molecular linear motors - A molecular dynamics study

Harvey A Zambrano; Jens Honore Walther; Richard Lawrence Jaffe

doi:10.1063/1.3281642

Thermally driven molecular linear motors - A molecular dynamics study

Harvey A Zambrano
, Jens Honore Walther
, Richard Lawrence Jaffe

NASA Ames Research Center

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

We conduct molecular dynamics simulations of a molecular linear motor consisting of coaxial carbon nanotubes with a long outer carbon nanotube confining and guiding the motion of an inner short, capsule-like nanotube. The simulations indicate that the motion of the capsule can be controlled by thermophoretic forces induced by thermal gradients. The simulations find large terminal velocities of 100-400 nm/ns for imposed thermal gradients in the range 1-3 K/nm. Moreover, the results indicate that the thermophoretic force is velocity dependent and its magnitude decreases for increasing velocity.

Original language	English
Article number	241104
Journal	Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume	131
Issue number	24
ISSN	0021-9606
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3281642
Publication status	Published - 2009

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Copyright (2009) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

Keywords

carbon nanotubes
thermophoresis
nanomotors

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title = "Thermally driven molecular linear motors - A molecular dynamics study",

abstract = "We conduct molecular dynamics simulations of a molecular linear motor consisting of coaxial carbon nanotubes with a long outer carbon nanotube confining and guiding the motion of an inner short, capsule-like nanotube. The simulations indicate that the motion of the capsule can be controlled by thermophoretic forces induced by thermal gradients. The simulations find large terminal velocities of 100-400 nm/ns for imposed thermal gradients in the range 1-3 K/nm. Moreover, the results indicate that the thermophoretic force is velocity dependent and its magnitude decreases for increasing velocity.",

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AU - Zambrano, Harvey A

AU - Walther, Jens Honore

AU - Jaffe, Richard Lawrence

N1 - Copyright (2009) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - We conduct molecular dynamics simulations of a molecular linear motor consisting of coaxial carbon nanotubes with a long outer carbon nanotube confining and guiding the motion of an inner short, capsule-like nanotube. The simulations indicate that the motion of the capsule can be controlled by thermophoretic forces induced by thermal gradients. The simulations find large terminal velocities of 100-400 nm/ns for imposed thermal gradients in the range 1-3 K/nm. Moreover, the results indicate that the thermophoretic force is velocity dependent and its magnitude decreases for increasing velocity.

AB - We conduct molecular dynamics simulations of a molecular linear motor consisting of coaxial carbon nanotubes with a long outer carbon nanotube confining and guiding the motion of an inner short, capsule-like nanotube. The simulations indicate that the motion of the capsule can be controlled by thermophoretic forces induced by thermal gradients. The simulations find large terminal velocities of 100-400 nm/ns for imposed thermal gradients in the range 1-3 K/nm. Moreover, the results indicate that the thermophoretic force is velocity dependent and its magnitude decreases for increasing velocity.

KW - carbon nanotubes

KW - thermophoresis

KW - nanomotors

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Thermally driven molecular linear motors - A molecular dynamics study

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