Thermal energy exchange between carbon nanotube and air

Using molecular dynamics simulations the authors impose a heat flux between single-walled carbon nanotubes and air to study thermal interfacial conductance. They estimate that the nanotube-air interfacial thermal conductance is about 0.1 MW/m(2) K at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The associated interfacial thermal resistance is equivalent to the resistance of 250 nm thick layer of air. They also show that the interfacial resistance is a strong function of the interaction parameters between air atoms and carbon nanotubes. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.