Investigation of thermal energy transport interface of hybrid graphene-carbon nanotube/polyethylene nanocomposites

Feng Liu; Xuyang Liu; Ning Hu; Huiming Ning; Satoshi Atobe; Cheng Yan; Fuhao Mo; Shaoyun Fu; Jianyu Zhang; Yu Wang; Xiaojing Mu

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14710-4

Investigation of thermal energy transport interface of hybrid graphene-carbon nanotube/polyethylene nanocomposites

Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 31;7(1):14700. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-14710-4.

Authors

Feng Liu¹, Xuyang Liu¹, Ning Hu^{2

3}, Huiming Ning⁴, Satoshi Atobe⁵, Cheng Yan⁶, Fuhao Mo⁷, Shaoyun Fu¹, Jianyu Zhang¹, Yu Wang⁸, Xiaojing Mu⁹

Affiliations

¹ College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China.
² College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China. ninghu@cqu.edu.cn.
³ The State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Transmissions, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China. ninghu@cqu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China. ninghuiming@cqu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-01 Aramaki-aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan.
⁶ School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia.
⁷ College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China.
⁸ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China.
⁹ Key Disciplines Lab of Novel Micro-nano Devices and System Technology, International R&D center of Micro-nano Systems and New Materials Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China.

Abstract

It is well known the thermal properties of three-dimensional (3-D) hybrid graphene (GR)-carbon nanotube (CNT) structures are not superior to that of the individual GR and CNT, however, the 3-D hybrid GR-CNT structures can effectively improve the thermal properties of polymer matrix. Therefore, understanding the thermal energy transport in the interface between polymer matrix and 3-D hybrid GR-CNT structure is essential. Here, the enhancement mechanism of interfacial thermal transport of hybrid GR-CNT structure was explored by applying non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. Three different types of hybrid GR-CNT structures were built. The influences of CNT radius and CNT type for the hybrid GR-CNT on the interfacial thermal properties were also analyzed. Computational results show that among the three different types of hybrid GR-CNT structures, the Model-I, i.e., the covalent bond hybrid GR-CNT structures are of the best interfacial thermal properties. Meanwhile, the CNT radius of hybrid GR-CNT structure has a great influence on the interfacial thermal properties.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't