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Simulation of Thermal and Electrical Transport in Nanotube and Nanowire Composites

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New Frontiers of Nanoparticles and Nanocomposite Materials

Part of the book series: Advanced Structured Materials ((STRUCTMAT,volume 4))

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Abstract

Nanotube-based thin-film composites promise significant improvement over existing technologies in the performance of large-area macroelectronics, flexible electronics, energy harvesting and storage, and in bio-chemical sensing applications. We present an overview of recent research on the electrical and thermal performance of thin-film composites composed of random 2D dispersions of nanotubes in a host matrix. Results from direct simulations of electrical and thermal transport in these composites using a finite volume method are compared to those using an effective medium approximation. The role of contact physics and percolation in influencing electrical and thermal behavior are explored. The effect of heterogeneous networks of semiconducting and metallic tubes on the transport properties of the thin film composites is investigated. Transport through a network of nanotubes is dominated by the interfacial resistance at the contact of two tubes. We explore the interfacial thermal interaction between two carbon nanotubes in a crossed configuration using molecular dynamics simulation and wavelet methods. We pass a high temperature pulse along one of the nanotubes and investigate the energy transfer to the other tube. Wavelet transformations of heat pulses show that how different phonon modes are excited and how they evolve and propagate along the tube axis depending on its chirality.

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Acknowledgments

Support of J. Murthy and S. Kumar under NSF grants CTS-0312420, CTS-0219098, EE-0228390, the Purdue Research Foundation and Purdue’s Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) is gratefully acknowledged. M. A. Alam acknowledges support from the Focus Center Research Program (FCRP-MSD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Satish Kumar

  2. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47097, USA

    Muhammad A. Alam

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47097, USA

    Jayathi Y. Murthy

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  1. Satish Kumar
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  2. Muhammad A. Alam
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  3. Jayathi Y. Murthy
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Correspondence to Satish Kumar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty Biosciences and, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Block A, Building V01, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia

    Andreas Öchsner

  2. of Technology, Fac. Mechanical Engineering, Khajeh Nasir Toosi University, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Shokuhfar

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Kumar, S., Alam, M.A., Murthy, J.Y. (2012). Simulation of Thermal and Electrical Transport in Nanotube and Nanowire Composites. In: Öchsner, A., Shokuhfar, A. (eds) New Frontiers of Nanoparticles and Nanocomposite Materials. Advanced Structured Materials, vol 4. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8611_2011_61

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