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Rotational and translational diffusivities of germanium nanowires

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Abstract

Understanding the rheological behavior of dilute dispersions of cylindrical nanomaterials in fluids is the first step towards the development of rheological models for these materials. Individual particle tracking was used to quantify the rotational and translational diffusivities of high-aspect-ratio germanium nanowires in alcohol solvents at room temperature. In spite of their long lengths and high aspect ratios, the rods were found to undergo Brownian motion. This work represents the first time that the effects of solvent viscosity and confinement have been directly measured and the results compared to proposed theoretical models. Using viscosity as a single adjustable parameter in the Kirkwood model for Brownian rods was found to be a facile and versatile way of predicting the diffusivities of nanowires across a broad range of length scales.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Nanoscale Exploratory Research Program NSF-CMMI-0707981 and the Auburn Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. DCL and BCK acknowledge funding of this research by the Robert A. Welch Foundation. The authors would also like to thank Matthew J. Kayatin for rotational rheology of the solvents, Vinod Radhakrishnan and Shanthi Murali for AFM, and Dr. Rajat Duggal for useful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA

    Bennett D. Marshall & Virginia A. Davis

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute and Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Doh C. Lee & Brian A. Korgel

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  1. Bennett D. Marshall
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  2. Virginia A. Davis
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  3. Doh C. Lee
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  4. Brian A. Korgel
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Correspondence to Virginia A. Davis.

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Marshall, B.D., Davis, V.A., Lee, D.C. et al. Rotational and translational diffusivities of germanium nanowires. Rheol Acta 48, 589–596 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-009-0361-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-009-0361-0

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