Measuring the thermal conductivity of a single carbon nanotube.
Although the thermal properties of millimeter-sized carbon nanotube mats and packed carbon nanofibers have been readily measured, measurements for a single nanotube are extremely difficult. Here, we report a novel method that can reliably measure the thermal conductivity of a single carbon nanotube using a suspended sample-attached T-type nanosensor. Our experimental results show that the thermal conductivity of a carbon nanotube at room temperature increases as its diameter decreases, and exceeds 2000 W/mK for a diameter of 9.8 nm. The temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity for a carbon nanotube with a diameter of 16.1 nm appears to have an asymptote near 320 K. The present method is, in principle, applicable to any kind of a single nanofiber, nanowire, and even single-walled carbon nanotube.
Fujii
Motoo
M
Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Kasuga 816-8580, Japan.
Zhang
Xing
X
Xie
Huaqing
H
Ago
Hiroki
H
Takahashi
Koji
K
Ikuta
Tatsuya
T
Abe
Hidekazu
H
Shimizu
Tetsuo
T