| Issue |
EPL
Volume 100, Number 6, December 2012
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 66002 | |
| Number of page(s) | 5 | |
| Section | Condensed Matter: Structural, Mechanical and Thermal Properties | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/100/66002 | |
| Published online | 21 December 2012 | |
Pump powered by self-collapse of carbon nanotube
1 College of Mechanical Engineering, Linyi University - Linyi, Shandong 276005, PRC
2 Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University - Jinan, Shandong 250061, PRC
liyunfang@lyu.edu.cn (corresponding author)
Received: 21 October 2012
Accepted: 26 November 2012
A pump driven by the intrinsic energy of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is examined by molecular dynamics simulations. When a section of CNT with an appropriate diameter is collapsed, the collapse will be continuous along the axial direction of the tube, which is called self-collapse. During the process of the self-collapse, the partial van der Waals energy of CNTs converts into mechanical energy and drives the water cluster transport through the CNT channel with relatively high speed. The released van der Walls energy is mainly dependent on the diameter of the CNT rather than on its length and chirality. Only CNTs with diameter larger than 1.63 nm will probably be used as a nanopump.
PACS: 61.46.Np – Structure of nanotubes (hollow nanowires) / 47.61.-k – Micro- and nano- scale flow phenomena
© EPLA, 2012
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