Friction effect of stator in a multi-walled CNT-based rotation transmission system

XN Zhang and K Cai and J Shi and QH Qin, NANOTECHNOLOGY, 29, 045706 (2018).

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/aa930a

The rotation transmission system (RTS) made from co-axial multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs) has the function of regulating the input rotation from a nanomotor. The mechanism for the regulation is that the friction among the tubes during rotation governs the rotation of the rotors in the nanosystem. By integrating a rotary nanomotor and a nanobearing into an MWNT-based RTS, it is discovered that the stator (outer tube) provides relatively greater friction on the rotors by penetrating the motor tube, which has a higher stable rotational frequency. And the output rotation of the rotors in the system depends significantly on the temperature of the system, as the rotor tubes are slightly longer than the motor tube. Briefly, at low temperatures, say 8 K, the rotors rotate synchronously with the motor. However, at high temperatures, the rotors rotate slower than the motor with a bigger difference between their rotational frequencies. Hence, the output rotational frequencies can be adjusted by changing the temperature as well as the input rotational frequency.

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