Nanoparticle delivery via stocky single-walled carbon nanotubes: A nonlinear-nonlocal continuum-based scrutiny

Excellent mechanical properties plus to the good biocompatibility of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are offering them as efficient nanodevices for delivering of nanoparticles. Due to the friction between the outer surface of the nanoparticle and the inner surface of the SWCNTs, mass weight of the nanoparticle, and the interactional van der Waals (vdW) forces between the constitutive atoms of the nanoparticle and those of the SWCNT, both longitudinal and transverse waves propagate within the SWCNT. Herein, such vibrations in stocky SWCNTs are of concern in the context of nonlinear-nonlocal continuum theory of Eringen. Based on the Rayleigh, Timoshenko, and higher-order beam theories, the dimensionless equations of motion are constructed and then numerically solved. The effects of the mass weight and velocity of the nanoparticle, radius and length of the SWCNT, the abovementioned vdW forces, and the small-scale parameter on the maximum displacements and forces within the SWCNT are exclusively explored. Additionally, the limitations of both the linear and local analyses for the problem under study are discussed.