The Effect of Thermal Contact Number on the Tube–Tube Contact Conductance of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

The contact conductance of single, double, and triple thermal contacts of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Our results showed that the effect of the thermal contact number on the contact conductance was not as strong as previously reported. The percentages of contact conductance of double and triple thermal contacts were about 72% and 67%, respectively, compared to that of a single thermal contact. Moreover, we found that the contact conductance of the double and triple thermal contacts was associated with the SWCNT length and the positional relationship of the thermal contacts.

Enhancing the Thermal Conductivity of Randomly Oriented CNT Networks via Welded Junctions

The thermal conductivity of bulk CNT materials based on three-dimensional randomly oriented CNT networks is rather low comparing with that of the individual carbon nanotube, and one of the important reasons has been considered to be the huge intertube thermal resistance. Though intertube thermal resistance can be reduced via welded junctions between the tubes, it is still unknown whether the formation of the welded junctions can enhance the thermal conductivity of random SWCNTs network. In this approach, the calculations of the average number of thermal contacts per SWCNT are compared by two different methods, and influencing factors of the thermal conductivity of random SWCNTs network are discussed; a hybrid macroscopic analytical model is proposed to predict the overall thermal conductivity of the partially sintered randomly oriented carbon nanotube (CNT) networks. Results show that choosing proper fraction of welded contacts can enhance the thermal conductivity of randomly oriented CNT networks effectively.

Enhanced thermal conductive property of polyamide composites by low mass fraction of covalently grafted graphene nanoribbons

Covalently grafted graphene nanoribbons allows for reducing the number of thermal contacts between GNR layers and leading to the more efficient thermal paths in polymer matrix. The result is a 165% enhancement of the thermal conductivity of polyamide composites at a 0.5 wt% of GNR.