Gigahertz breathing oscillators based on carbon nanoscrolls

Theoretical study and molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the gigahertz breathing oscillatory motion of a carbon nanoscroll (CNS). It is shown that the oscillation frequency depends on surface energy, bending stiffness, interlayer spacing, and length of the basal graphene sheet of the CNS, and that energy dissipation in the system can be controlled by adjusting temperature, graphene length, and surface energy. The analysis indicates potential applications of CNS in nanomechanical devices such as nanooscillators, nanoactuators, as well as drug and gene delivery systems. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3253423]