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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Construction and Operation of a Light-driven Gold Nanorod Rotary Motor System
Published on: June 30, 2018
Nanosphere and carbon nanotube as motor and gun controlled by light
A M J C Neto1, C X Oliveira, G V S Mota
1Faculdade de Física-ICEN, Universidade Federal do Pará, C. P. 479, 66075-110 Belém, PA, Brasil.
Abstract:
We propose a system like motor and gun molecular that has the open extremities of external nanotube using the internal C60 nanosphere as a probe. The system consists of a rigid and static nanotube opened and the internal C60 probe that allows relaxation between them. The initial position of C60 is out of symmetry that permits the probe to start the system movement due to van der Waals force acting in the probe. The simulation was made by classic molecular dynamics with standard parameterization. We calculated thermodynamics properties of these two devices as molar specific heat and molar entropy variation. Properties as probe speed were obtained like molecular motor and gun versus time. The nanotube has 360 carbon atoms with up to almost 0.7 ns of simulation. These facts can be useful for building new molecular machines.

