Michael C H Wu and Jang-Yu Hsu 2009 Nanotechnology 20 145401 doi:10.1088/0957-4484/20/14/145401
Michael C H Wu1 and Jang-Yu Hsu1,2,3
Show affiliationsThe molecular dynamics simulation with the use of the empirical Tersoff potential is applied to study the thermal characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A thermal reservoir is devised to control the temperature and to exact the heat flux input. The quantum effect defining the precise temperature from the absolute zero Kelvin and up is included by applying phonon (boson) statistics to the specific heat. At low temperature, the CNT thermal conductivity increases with increasing temperature. After reaching its peak, which is limited by the length of the CNT, it decreases with temperature due to phonon–phonon interactions. The scaling law of thermal conductivity as a function of temperature and length is inferred from the simulation results, allowing prediction for CNTs of much longer length beyond what MD could simulate.
66.70.-f Nonelectronic thermal conduction and heat-pulse propagation in solids; thermal waves
63.22.-m Phonons or vibrational states in low-dimensional structures and nanoscale materials
65.80.+n Thermal properties of small particles, nanocrystals, nanotubes
Issue 14 (8 April 2009)
Received 9 January 2009, in final form 19 February 2009
Published 17 March 2009
Michael C H Wu and Jang-Yu Hsu 2009 Nanotechnology 20 145401
Zhiyu Ren et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 065305
N Chekurov et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 065307
Z Y Zhang et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 055204
Huaping Bai et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 085607
Josep Carreras et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 155201
Yunjie Huang et al 2009 Nanotechnology 20 105604
Diederik Aerts and Marek Czachor 2004 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 37 L123
Reuben M Bakker et al 2008 New J. Phys. 10 125022
A V Kildishev et al 2008 New J. Phys. 10 115029