Effects of anisotropy, aspect ratio, and nonstraightness of carbon nanotubes on thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube composites

Simple models for the thermal conductivity enhancements in carbon nanotube (CNT) composites are presented as analytical functions of volume fraction, anisotropic thermal conductivities, aspect ratio, nonstraightness, and interfacial thermal resistance of the CNTs. The model predictions agree very well with the measured thermal conductivities of CNT composites available in the literature. It is shown that using CNTs with higher aspect and straightness ratios is an efficient means to get much better thermal conductivity enhancements for CNT composites. The models are further extended to account the effects of either the random or aligned orientation of CNTs and the interaction among CNTs on thermal conductivity of CNT composites. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.