Molecular mobility on graphene nanoribbons

Enhanced diffusion with abnormal temperature dependence in underdamped space-periodic systems subject to time-periodic driving

We present a study of the diffusion enhancement of underdamped Brownian particles in a one-dimensional symmetric space-periodic potential due to external symmetric time-periodic driving with zero mean. We show that the diffusivity can be enhanced by many orders of magnitude at an appropriate choice of the driving amplitude and frequency. The diffusivity demonstrates abnormal (decreasing) temperature dependence at the driving amplitudes exceeding a certain value. At any fixed driving frequency Ω normal temperature dependence of the diffusivity is restored at low enough temperatures, T<T_{TAD}(Ω)-in contrast with the problem with constant external driving. At fixed temperature at small driving frequency the diffusivity either slowly decreases with Ω, or (at stronger driving) goes through a maximum near Ω_{2}, the reciprocal superdiffusion regime termination time. At high frequencies, between Ω_{2} and a fraction of the oscillation frequency at the potential minimum, the diffusivity is shown to decrease with Ω according to a power law, with the exponent related to the transient superdiffusion exponent. This behavior is found similar for the cases of sinusoidal in time and piecewise constant periodic ("square") driving.

Molecular mobility on graphene nanoroads

We study molecular mobility on a graphene nanoroad (GNRD), a pristine graphene strip embedded in between two hydrogenated graphene domains serving as a nanoscale pathway for transporting admolecules. Our molecular dynamics simulations using a prototype physisorbed C60 admolecule demonstrate that the proposed GNRD is able to confine the diffusive motion of the admolecule within the nanoroad up to a certain temperature, depending on its width and edge type. Within the confinement regime, the width and edge-type of the GNRD also play an important role in the molecular motion. Specifically, when the GNRD width is narrower than the admolecule diameter, the admolecule performs one-dimensional hopping motion along the nanoroad. When the GNRD width is larger than the admolecule diameter, the admolecule moves only along one of its edges at low temperatures, and shuffle between two edges at high temperatures. We further show the admolecule motion on the zigzag-edged GRND is faster than that on the armchair-edged GRND with the same width and at the same temperature. These results can be well explained by analysing the potential energy surfaces of the systems. Since such hydrogenated graphene nanostructures have been experimentally realized, our results provide a valuable reference for constructing molecular conveyor circuits.