Nanodroplet Transport on Vibrated Nanotubes

We show by molecular dynamics simulations that water nanodroplets can be transported along and around the surfaces of vibrated carbon nanotubes. In our simulations, a nanodroplet with a diameter of ∼4 nm is adsorbed on a (10,0) single-wall carbon nanotube, which is vibrated at one end with a frequency of 208 GHz and an amplitude of 1.2 nm. The generated linearly polarized transverse acoustic waves pass linear momentum to the nanodroplet, which becomes transported along the nanotube with a velocity of ∼30 nm/ns. When circularly polarized waves are passed along the nanotubes, the nanodroplets rotate around them and eventually become ejected from their surfaces when their angular velocity is ∼50 rad/ns.