Catalytic dimer nanomotors: Continuum theory and microscopic dynamics
Catalytic dimer nanomotors: Continuum theory and microscopic dynamics
Publication Type:
Journal ArticleSource:
Soft Matter, Royal Society of Chemistry, Volume 11, Number 16, p.3149-3158 (2015)URL:
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84927624192&doi=10.1039%2fc4sm02857k&partnerID=40&md5=b975d4072dbe51343277ac6d7bef9210Keywords:
Bond length, Complex structure, Concentration fields, Continuum mechanics, Continuum theory, Dynamics, Flow of fluids, Fluid dynamics, Geometric factors, Geometry, Microscopic dynamics, New applications, Particle-based simulation, Solvent velocities, Spheres, VelocityAbstract:
Synthetic chemically-powered motors with various geometries have potentially new applications involving dynamics on very small scales. Self-generated concentration and fluid flow fields, which depend on geometry, play essential roles in motor dynamics. Sphere-dimer motors, comprising linked catalytic and noncatalytic spheres, display more complex versions of such fields, compared to the often-studied spherical Janus motors. By making use of analytical continuum theory and particle-based simulations we determine the concentration fields, and both the complex structure of the near-field and point-force dipole nature of the far-field behavior of the solvent velocity field that are important for studies of collective motor motion. We derive the dependence of motor velocity on geometric factors such as sphere size and dimer bond length and, thus, show how to construct motors with specific characteristics. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.2015.
