Molecular Motor of Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Driven by Temperature Variation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a molecular motor based on a double-walled carbon nanotube that exhibits directional motion driven by temperature changes, with a new analytical model for atomic coordinates and inter-tube interactions.

Contribution

It presents a novel molecular motor design using double-walled carbon nanotubes and derives an analytical formula for atomic coordinates and inter-tube interactions.

Findings

The molecular motor exhibits directional motion in a thermal bath.

Analytical expressions for atomic positions and Lennard-Jones interactions are provided.

Temperature variation induces controlled movement of the nanotube motor.

Abstract

An elegant formula for coordinates of carbon atoms in a unit cell of a single-walled nanotube (SWNT) is presented and a new molecular motor of double-walled carbon nanotube whose inner tube is a long (8,4) SWNT and outer tube a short (14,8) SWNT is constructed. The interaction between inner an outer tubes is analytically derived by summing the Lennard-Jones potentials between atoms in inner and outer tubes. It is proved that the molecular motor in a thermal bath exhibits a directional motion with the temperature variation of the bath.