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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Nanoscale Heat Transport of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Bundles for Thermal Management Applications
AU - Spièce, Jean
AU - Lulla, Kunal
AU - de Crombrugghe de Picquendaele, Pauline
AU - Divay, Laurent
AU - Bezencenet, Odile
AU - Hackens, Benoit
AU - Gehring, Pascal
AU - Robson, Alex J.
AU - Evangeli, Charalambos
AU - Kolosov, Oleg V.
PY - 2024/8/13
Y1 - 2024/8/13
N2 - Electronic devices continue to shrink in size while increasing in performance, making excess heat dissipation challenging. Traditional thermal interface materials (TIMs) such as thermal grease and pads face limitations in thermal conductivity and stability, particularly as devices scale down. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as promising candidates for TIMs because of their exceptional thermal conductivity and mechanical properties. However, the thermal conductivity of CNT films decreases when integrated into devices due to defects and bundling effects. This study employs a novel cross-sectional approach combining high-vacuum scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) with beam-exit cross-sectional polishing (BEXP) to investigate the nanoscale morphology and thermal properties of vertically aligned CNT bundles at low and room temperatures. Using appropriate thermal transport models, we extracted effective thermal conductivities of the vertically aligned nanotubes and obtained 4 W m–1 K–1 at 200 K and 37 W m–1 K–1 at 300 K. Additionally, non-negligible lateral thermal conductance between CNT bundles suggests more complex heat transfer mechanisms in these structures. These findings provide unique insights into nanoscale thermal transport in CNT bundles, which is crucial for optimizing novel thermal management strategies.
AB - Electronic devices continue to shrink in size while increasing in performance, making excess heat dissipation challenging. Traditional thermal interface materials (TIMs) such as thermal grease and pads face limitations in thermal conductivity and stability, particularly as devices scale down. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have emerged as promising candidates for TIMs because of their exceptional thermal conductivity and mechanical properties. However, the thermal conductivity of CNT films decreases when integrated into devices due to defects and bundling effects. This study employs a novel cross-sectional approach combining high-vacuum scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) with beam-exit cross-sectional polishing (BEXP) to investigate the nanoscale morphology and thermal properties of vertically aligned CNT bundles at low and room temperatures. Using appropriate thermal transport models, we extracted effective thermal conductivities of the vertically aligned nanotubes and obtained 4 W m–1 K–1 at 200 K and 37 W m–1 K–1 at 300 K. Additionally, non-negligible lateral thermal conductance between CNT bundles suggests more complex heat transfer mechanisms in these structures. These findings provide unique insights into nanoscale thermal transport in CNT bundles, which is crucial for optimizing novel thermal management strategies.
KW - atomic force microscopy
KW - beam-exit cross-sectional polishing
KW - carbon nanotubes
KW - scanning thermal microscopy
KW - thermal interface materials
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.4c07913
DO - 10.1021/acsami.4c07913
M3 - Journal article
VL - 16
SP - 45671
EP - 45677
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
SN - 1944-8244
IS - 34
ER -