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Rotating‐Electric‐Field‐Induced Carbon‐Nanotube‐Based Nanomotor in Water: A Molecular Dynamics Study
Author(s) -
Rahman Md. Mushfiqur,
Chowdhury Mokter Mahmud,
Alam Md. Kawsar
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201603978
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , electric field , polarizability , dipole , rotation (mathematics) , materials science , molecular dynamics , chemical physics , orientation (vector space) , field (mathematics) , rotational speed , dielectrophoresis , nanotube , water model , nanotechnology , mechanics , classical mechanics , physics , computational chemistry , molecule , chemistry , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , microfluidics , pure mathematics
Using molecular dynamics simulations, it is shown that a carbon nanotube (CNT) suspended in water and subjected to a rotating electric field of proper magnitude and angular speed can be rotated with the aid of water dipole orientations. Based on this principle, a rotational nanomotor structure is designed and the system is simulated in water. Use of the fast responsiveness of electric‐field‐induced CNT orientation in water is employed and its operation at ultrahigh‐speed (over 10 11 r.p.m.) is shown. To explain the basic mechanism, the behavior of the rotational actuation, originated from the water dipole orientation, is also analyzed . The proposed nanomotor is capable of rotating an attached load (such as CNT) at a precise angle as well as nanogear‐based complex structures. The findings suggest a potential way of using the electric‐field‐induced CNT rotation in polarizable fluids as a novel tool to operate nanodevices and systems.