Directional transport of molecular mass on graphene by straining

Huang, Yinjun; Zhu, Songming; Li, Teng

doi:10.1016/j.eml.2014.12.006

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…To this end, many methods have been explored, for example heterogeneous surface chemistries for different patterns [7][8][9], temperature and electric potential gradients [2,6], and surface topography [10][11][12][13][14]. Other techniques for moving nanoscale objects are based on electrical current [15][16][17][18], charge [19][20][21], thermal energy (selective heating) [22][23][24], simple stretch [25], and complicated chemical reactions (e.g. in biological processes) [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stiffness-guided motion of a droplet on a solid substrate

Theodorakis

Егоров

Milchev

2017

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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A range of technologies require the directed motion of nanoscale droplets on solid substrates. A way of realizing this effect is durotaxis, whereby a stiffness gradient of a substrate can induce directional motion without requiring an energy source. Here, we report on the results of extensive molecular dynamics investigations of droplets on a surface with varying stiffness. We find that durotaxis is enhanced by increasing the stiffness gradient and, also, by increased wettability of the substrate, in particular, when droplet size decreases. We anticipate that our study will provide further insights into the mechanisms of nanoscale directional motion.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stiffness-guided motion of a droplet on a solid substrate

Theodorakis

Егоров

Milchev

2017

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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“…The possibility to drive directional motion of adsorbates by means of thermal gradients is interesting and has been explored both theoretically (2) and experimentally (3). By a similar principle, the controlled directional motion on graphene was also explored by means of strain or wettability gradients (4)(5)(6). Carbon systems such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are prime candidate substrates (2,3,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) for these phoretic phenomena, owing to their remarkable mechanical strength and thermal conductivity.…”

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confidence: 99%

Ballistic thermophoresis of adsorbates on free-standing graphene

Panizon

Guerra

Tosatti

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The textbook thermophoretic force which acts on a body in a fluid is proportional to the local temperature gradient. The same is expected to hold for the macroscopic drift behavior of a diffusive cluster or molecule physisorbed on a solid surface. The question we explore here is whether that is still valid on a 2D membrane such as graphene at short sheet length. By means of a nonequilibrium molecular dynamics study of a test system-a gold nanocluster adsorbed on free-standing graphene clamped between two temperatures ∆T apart-we find a phoretic force which for submicron sheet lengths is parallel to, but basically independent of, the local gradient magnitude. This identifies a thermophoretic regime that is ballistic rather than diffusive, persisting up to and beyond a 100-nanometer sheet length. Analysis shows that the phoretic force is due to the flexural phonons, whose flow is known to be ballistic and distance-independent up to relatively long mean-free paths. However, ordinary harmonic phonons should only carry crystal momentum and, while impinging on the cluster, should not be able to impress real momentum. We show that graphene and other membrane-like monolayers support a specific anharmonic connection between the flexural corrugation and longitudinal phonons whose fast escape leaves behind a 2D-projected mass density increase endowing the flexural phonons, as they move with their group velocity, with real momentum, part of which is transmitted to the adsorbate through scattering. The resulting distance-independent ballistic thermophoretic force is not unlikely to possess practical applications.thermophoresis | graphene | ballistic | flexural phonons | heat transport T hermophoresis is the phenomenon by which a body immersed in a fluid endowed with a temperature gradient experiences a force and, independent of convection, drifts from hot to cold (1). We address here the less common case of thermophoresis of a physisorbed nanoobject caused by an in-plane temperature imbalance in the underlying solid substrate surface. Recent years have seen a surge of interest for methods to control nanoscale transport and manipulation, also in view of potential applications in nanodevices. The possibility to drive directional motion of adsorbates by means of thermal gradients is interesting and has been explored both theoretically (2) and experimentally (3). By a similar principle, the controlled directional motion on graphene was also explored by means of strain or wettability gradients (4-6). Carbon systems such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are prime candidate substrates (2, 3, 7-11) for these phoretic phenomena, owing to their remarkable mechanical strength and thermal conductivity. Computational studies have highlighted the possibility to drive thermally gold nanoparticles, water clusters, graphene nanoflakes, C60 clusters, and small CNTs over graphene layers or inside CNTs. Despite that, there appears to be so far insufficient intimate understanding of that phenomenon, besides the obvious consensus that the ...

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“…Recently, strain engineering has been widely studied experimentally and theoretically for tuning material properties. , Externally applied strain to the substrate was experimentally adopted to actuate the migration of fibroblasts in the direction of principal strain, and the rolling motion of biological organisms, such as zoosperms, was driven by the strain gradient induced by muscle contraction. , Not limited to biological systems, as one of the effective strategies, the strain-gradient-based method has been realized in nanosystems, including transport of 2D nanoflakes on graphene. , To the best of our knowledge, no explicit study has been reported on manipulating the motion of water nanodroplets in a more controllable way through deforming substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…29,30 Not limited to biological systems, as one of the effective strategies, the strain-gradient-based method has been realized in nanosystems, including transport of 2D nanoflakes on graphene. 31,32 To the best of our knowledge, no explicit study has been reported on manipulating the motion of water nanodroplets in a more controllable way through deforming substrates.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid Programmable Nanodroplet Motion on a Strain-Gradient Surface

et al. 2019

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When a nanodroplet is placed on a lattice surface, an inhomogeneous surface strain field perturbs the balance of van der Waals force between the nanodroplet and surface, thus providing a net driving force for nanodroplet motion. Using molecular dynamics and theoretical analysis, we study the effect of strain gradient on modulating the movement of a nanodroplet. Both modeling and simulation show that the driving force is opposite to the direction of strain gradient, with a magnitude that is proportional to the strain gradient as well as nanodroplet size. Two representative surfaces, graphene and copper (111) plane, are exemplified to demonstrate the controllable motion of the nanodroplet. When the substrate undergoes various types of reversible deformations, multiple motion modes of nanodroplets can be feasibly achieved, including acceleration, deceleration, and turning, becoming a facile strategy to manipulate nanodroplets along a designed two-dimensional pathway.

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Directional transport of molecular mass on graphene by straining

Cited by 31 publications

References 50 publications

Stiffness-guided motion of a droplet on a solid substrate

Stiffness-guided motion of a droplet on a solid substrate

Ballistic thermophoresis of adsorbates on free-standing graphene

Rapid Programmable Nanodroplet Motion on a Strain-Gradient Surface

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