Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Carbon Nanotube Interactions in Water/Surfactant Systems

Author(s):  
Nasir M. Uddin ◽  
Franco Capaldi ◽  
Bakhtier Farouk

The properties of nanocomposite materials depend on the dispersion of the nanoparticles/nanofibers within the matrix. The addition of surfactants and varied processing techniques are used to increase the dispersion of the nanoparticles in the final composite. A method for the quantitative prediction of the interactions between nanoparticles in solution would aid in the design of processing schedules. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are used to compute for the potential of mean force as a function of the distance and orientation between a pair of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in water. An adaptive biasing force method is used to speed up the calculations. Simulation results show that CNT orientation and the addition of surfactant can significantly affect CNT interactions and inturn dispersion.

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gokhan Günay ◽  
Ubade Kemerli

A novel nano-scale pump that can transport atoms or small molecules with a peristaltic motion is designed. It is proven by molecular-dynamics simulations that the introduced nano-pump design works properly. The designed nano-pump consists of one main carbon nanotube named the flow tube and two rotors where multi-walled carbon nanotubes are attached. The pumping of helium atoms by the designed peristaltic carbon nano-pump is investigated by molecular-dynamics simulations. For varying rotor speeds and blade counts, time-averaged velocity, temperature, and pressure results of pumped helium atoms are calculated, and relationships between them are modeled as polynomial surfaces. The results showed that rotor frequency increases the velocity of helium linearly and the temperature and pressure of helium non-linearly. Furthermore, the blade count of the proposed mechanism does not substantially affect the velocity as per the previous studies in the literature.


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