Carbon-Nanotube-Based Motor Driven by a Thermal Gradient

We present a model describing the dynamics of a thermally activated nanoelectromechanical device. The nanosystem consisted of two coaxial carbon nanotubes of disparate lengths. The presence of strong thermal inhomogeneities induced motion of the shorter nanotube along the track of the longer nanotube. A model combining the actions of frictional, van der Waals, and thermal forces and the effects of noise is proposed and used to reproduce the motions observed in experiments and simulations. The dynamics of the nanomotor reveals the existence of a rich variety of dynamical behaviors and a high sensitivity to noise and initial conditions.