Unusually high thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes
Combining equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations with accurate carbon potentials, we determine the thermal conductivity lambda of carbon nanotubes and its dependence on temperature. Our results suggest an unusually high value, lambda approximately 6600 W/m K, for an isolated (10,10) nanotube at room temperature, comparable to the thermal conductivity of a hypothetical isolated graphene monolayer or diamond. Our results suggest that these high values of lambda are associated with the large phonon mean free paths in these systems; substantially lower values are predicted and observed for the basal plane of bulk graphite.
Berber
S
Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Center for Fundamental Materials Research, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1116, USA.
Kwon
YK
Tomanek
D