Carbon nanotube motors driven by carbon nanotube

Abstract

We propose a new type of carbon nanotube (CNT) motor composed of a single-wall CNT (SWCNT) and a double-wall CNT (DWCNT), that are in mechanical contact. The rotational motion of our CNT motor is controllable by the translational motion of the SWCNT along the axis of the DWCNT. From molecular dynamics simulations, we show how our CNT motor can be driven in a controlled manner.