In this paper, single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） are studied through molecular dynamics （MD） simulation. The simulations are performed at temperatures of 1 and 300K separately, with atomic interactions characterized by the second Reactive Empirical Bond Order （REBO） potential, and temperature controlled by a certain thermostat, i.e. by separately using the velocity scaling, the Berendsen scheme, the Nose-Hoover scheme, and the generalized Langevin scheme. Results for a （5,5） SWCNT with a length of 24.5 nm show apparent distortions in nanotube configuration, which can further enter into periodic vibrations, except in simulations using the generalized Langevin thermostat, which is ascribed to periodic boundary conditions used in simulation. The periodic boundary conditions may implicitly be applied in the form of an inconsistent constraint along the axis of the nanotube. The combination of the inconsistent constraint with the cumulative errors in calculation causes the distortions of nanotubes. When the generalized Langevin thermostat is applied, inconsistently distributed errors are dispersed by the random forces, and so the distortions and vibrations disappear. This speculation is confirmed by simulation in the case without periodic boundary conditions, where no apparent distortion and vibration occur. It is also revealed that numerically induced distortions and vibrations occur only in simulation of nanotubes with a small diameter and a large length-to-diameter ratio. When MD simulation is applied to a system with a particular geometry, attention should be paid to avoiding the numerical distortion and the result infidelity.
The spread of perfluoropolyether （PFPE） droplets on solid surfaces has been measured from the top-down view through a microscope system. Effects of substrates, molecular weight and end-group functionality on spreading of the PFPE droplets have been studied experimentally and the results were compared with those by molecular dynamics （MD） simulations. Silicon wafer and diamond-like carbon （DLC） substrates were used to study the effect of substrates on spreading. Two types of PFPE, Z-dol and Z-tetraol, with the same chain structure and various molecular weights （2000 and 4000 g/mol） were employed in experiments. Effect of molecular weight has been investigated through comparing the spreading of Z-dol 2000 and Z-dol 4000, and it is found that the increase of molecular weight will decrease the mobility of PFPE. Comparison between spreading of Z-dol and Z-tetraol of the same molecular weight proved that functional end group plays a significant role on the spreading of PFPE, which confirmed the MD simulation results.
Lubricant spreading on solid substrates has drawn considerable attention not only for the microscopic wetting theory but also for the dramatic application in head-disk interface of magnetic storage drive systems. Molecular dynamic simulation based on a coarse-grained bead-spring model has been used to study such a spreading process. The spreading profiles indicate that the hydrogen bonds among lubricant molecules and the hydrogen bonds between lubricant molecules and polar atoms of solid substrates will complicate the spreading process in a tremendous degree. The hydrogen bonds among lubricant molecules will strengthen the lubricant combination intensity, which may hinder most molecules from flowing down to the substrates and diffusing along the substrates. And the hydrogen bonds between lubricant molecules and polar atoms of solid substrates will confine the lubricant molecules around polar atoms, which may hinder the molecules from diffusing along the substrates and cause precursor film to vanish.
