Nanomachines driven by thermal bath

TL;DR

This paper proposes nanomachines based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes driven by thermal fluctuations, demonstrating activation of motion at high temperatures through atomistic simulations, with potential applications in nano-devices and molecule transport.

Contribution

It introduces a model of thermally driven nanomachines using carbon nanotubes, highlighting the role of thermal fluctuations in activating motion.

Findings

Intershell translational and rotational motion can be activated at high temperatures.

Thermal fluctuations align with the equipartition theorem.

Potential applications include nano-channels for molecule transport.

Abstract

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes based nanomachines driven by thermal bath are proposed in this Letter. Atomistic simulation shows that intershell translational and rotational motion can be activated at sufficiently high temperature, where the van der Waals potential barrier is accessible by the thermal fluctuation. The thermal fluctuation is further identified to be consistent with the equipartition theorem. This model can be used to construct one dimensional devices driven by thermal bath or nano-channels for molecule transport.