TY - JOUR
T1 - Nonequilibrium atomistic molecular dynamics simulation of tubular nanomotor propelled by bubble propulsion
AU - Man, Viet Hoang
AU - Li, Mai Suan
AU - Wang, Junmei
AU - Derreumaux, Philippe
AU - Nguyen, Phuong H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Author(s).
PY - 2019/7/14
Y1 - 2019/7/14
N2 - We develop a molecular nanoscaled model for tubular motors propelled by bubble propulsion. The motor is modeled by a carbon nanotube, and the bubble is represented by a particle interacting with water by a time-dependent potential. Effects of liquid viscosity, fuel concentration, geometry, and size of the tube on the performance of the motor are effectively encoded into two parameters: time scales of the bubble expansion and bubble formation. Our results are qualitatively consistent with experimental data of much larger motors. Simulations suggest that (i) the displacement of the tube is optimized if two time scales are as short as possible, (ii) the compromise between the performance and fuel consumption is achieved if the bubble formation time is shorter than the velocity correlation time of the tube, (iii) the motor efficiency is higher with slow expansion, short formation of the bubble than fast growth but long formation time, and (iv) the tube is propelled by strong forces on the order of mN, reaching high speeds up to ∼60 m/s. Our simulation may be useful for refining and encouraging future experimental work on nanomotors having the size of a few nanometers. The tiny size and high speed motors could have great potential applications in real life.
AB - We develop a molecular nanoscaled model for tubular motors propelled by bubble propulsion. The motor is modeled by a carbon nanotube, and the bubble is represented by a particle interacting with water by a time-dependent potential. Effects of liquid viscosity, fuel concentration, geometry, and size of the tube on the performance of the motor are effectively encoded into two parameters: time scales of the bubble expansion and bubble formation. Our results are qualitatively consistent with experimental data of much larger motors. Simulations suggest that (i) the displacement of the tube is optimized if two time scales are as short as possible, (ii) the compromise between the performance and fuel consumption is achieved if the bubble formation time is shorter than the velocity correlation time of the tube, (iii) the motor efficiency is higher with slow expansion, short formation of the bubble than fast growth but long formation time, and (iv) the tube is propelled by strong forces on the order of mN, reaching high speeds up to ∼60 m/s. Our simulation may be useful for refining and encouraging future experimental work on nanomotors having the size of a few nanometers. The tiny size and high speed motors could have great potential applications in real life.
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U2 - 10.1063/1.5109101
DO - 10.1063/1.5109101
M3 - Article
C2 - 31301696
AN - SCOPUS:85068799683
SN - 0021-9606
VL - 151
JO - Journal of Chemical Physics
JF - Journal of Chemical Physics
IS - 2
M1 - 024103
ER -