DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Thermal conductivity model for nanofiber networks

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008582 · OSTI ID:1432440
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1];  [1];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); China Univ. of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou (China)
  3. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Understanding thermal transport in nanofiber networks is essential for their applications in thermal management, which are used extensively as mechanically sturdy thermal insulation or high thermal conductivity materials. In this study, using the statistical theory and Fourier's law of heat conduction while accounting for both the inter-fiber contact thermal resistance and the intrinsic thermal resistance of nanofibers, an analytical model is developed to predict the thermal conductivity of nanofiber networks as a function of their geometric and thermal properties. A scaling relation between the thermal conductivity and the geometric properties including volume fraction and nanofiber length of the network is revealed. This model agrees well with both numerical simulations and experimental measurements found in the literature. This model may prove useful in analyzing the experimental results and designing nanofiber networks for both high and low thermal conductivity applications.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1432440
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1422261
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5500-71269
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 123; ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (42)

Transport in Stochastic Fibrous Networks journal July 2000
Percolating Conduction in Finite Nanotube Networks journal August 2005
Heat conduction in carbon nanotube materials: Strong effect of intrinsic thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes journal July 2012
Thermal conduction phenomena in carbon nanotubes and related nanostructured materials journal August 2013
Thermal conductivity of chirality-sorted carbon nanotube networks journal March 2016
A review of fabrication and applications of carbon nanotube film-based flexible electronics journal January 2013
Inter-tube thermal conductance in carbon nanotubes arrays and bundles: Effects of contact area and pressure journal June 2012
Anomalous thermal conductivity enhancement in nanotube suspensions journal October 2001
Computational Model for Transport in Nanotube-Based Composites With Applications to Flexible Electronics journal August 2006
In-plane conduction of polymer composite plates reinforced with architectured networks of Copper fibres journal November 2011
The effect of mesoscopic shape on thermal properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube mats journal September 2011
Upscaling the diffusion equations in particulate media made of highly conductive particles. II. Application to fibrous materials journal January 2008
Highly Thermal Conductive Copper Nanowire Composites with Ultralow Loading: Toward Applications as Thermal Interface Materials journal April 2014
Quasi-ballistic carbon nanotube array transistors with current density exceeding Si and GaAs journal September 2016
Effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) content on the mechanical properties of CNT-reinforced aluminium composites journal December 2010
Thermal and Electrical Transport in Ultralow Density Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Networks journal April 2013
Thermal conductivity prediction of a Cu circular nanowire journal April 2014
Carbon nanotube composites for thermal management journal April 2002
Mechanical and electrical properties of a MWNT/epoxy composite journal November 2002
Scaling Laws and Mesoscopic Modeling of Thermal Conductivity in Carbon Nanotube Materials journal May 2010
A Modified Analysis of the Microstructural Characteristics of General Fiber Assemblies journal June 1993
High-Density Carbon Nanotube Buckypapers with Superior Transport and Mechanical Properties journal January 2012
Modelling microstructure effects on the conduction in fibrous materials with fibre–fibre interface barriers journal March 2008
Thermal conductivity and interfacial resistance in single-wall carbon nanotube epoxy composites journal October 2005
Thermal Conductivity in Nanostructured Films: From Single Cellulose Nanocrystals to Bulk Films journal October 2014
A multi-level fractal model for the effective thermal conductivity of silica aerogel journal December 2015
Effective thermal conductivity of particulate composites with interfacial thermal resistance journal May 1997
Upscaling the diffusion equations in particulate media made of highly conductive particles. I. Theoretical aspects journal January 2008
Upper bound to the thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube pellets journal April 2009
A review and analysis of electrical percolation in carbon nanotube polymer composites journal August 2009
Thermal conductivity of misaligned short-fiber-reinforced polymer composites journal February 2003
Turning Carbon Nanotubes from Exceptional Heat Conductors into Insulators journal March 2009
Investigation of the effect of the gas permeation induced by pressure gradient on transient heat transfer in silica aerogel journal April 2016
Influence of different carbon nanotubes on the mechanical properties of epoxy matrix composites – A comparative study journal December 2005
A three-dimensional carbon nano-network for high performance lithium ion batteries journal January 2015
Strongly anisotropic thermal and electrical conductivities of a self-assembled silver nanowire network journal January 2016
Radiant Heat Transfer in Fibrous Thermal Insulation journal November 1967
Interfacial thermal resistance between carbon nanotubes: Molecular dynamics simulations and analytical thermal modeling journal September 2006
Thermal Boundary Conductance between Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes journal January 2012
The thermal conductivity of textiles journal January 1946
In-Plane Anisotropic Thermally Conductive Nanopapers by Drawing Bacterial Cellulose Hydrogels journal March 2017
Thermal resistance of metal nanowire junctions in the ballistic regime journal March 2011

Cited By (8)

Thermoelectric Properties of Carbon Nanotubes journal November 2019
A Clear, Strong, and Thermally Insulated Transparent Wood for Energy Efficient Windows journal November 2019
High cross‐plane thermoelectric performance of carbon nanotube sponge films journal December 2019
Utilization of SiC and Cu Particles to Enhance Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Al Matrix Composites journal August 2019
High performance of carbon-particle/bulk-wood bi-layer system for solar steam generation journal October 2018
A Clear, Strong, and Thermally Insulated Transparent Wood for Energy Efficient Windows journal June 2020
Effect of fiber alignment on dielectric response in the 1–3 connectivity fiber/polymer composites by quantitative evaluation journal September 2018
Solar vapor generation optimization of a carbon‐black/wood‐flour system with strength enhanced by polystyrene journal April 2020