Interface heat transfer between crossing carbon nanotubes, and the thermal conductivity of nanotube pellets

Abstract

We theoretically compute the interface thermal resistance between crossing single walled carbon nanotubes of various chiralities, using an atomistic Green's function approach with semi-empirical potentials. The results are then used to model the thermal conductivity of three dimensional nanotube pellets in vacuum. For an average nanotube length of 1 $μ$m, the model yields an upper bound for the thermal conductivity of densely compacted pellets, of the order of a few W/m-K. This is in striking contrast with the ultra-high thermal conductivity reported on individually suspended nanotubes. The results suggest that nanotube pellets might have an application as thermal insulators.

13 pages, 8 figures