Anomalous thermal conductivity in multiwalled carbon nanotubes with impurities and short-range order

TL;DR

This paper investigates how impurities and short-range order affect the low-temperature thermal conductivity and thermopower of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, using advanced diagrammatic techniques to match experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model accounting for impurity scattering and short-range order effects in multiwalled carbon nanotubes at low temperatures.

Findings

Good agreement with experimental data for nanotubes ≤10 nm diameter at T<50K.

Impurities and short-range order significantly influence thermal properties.

Theoretical approach effectively explains anomalous thermal conductivity behaviors.

Abstract

Low-temperature thermal conductivity and thermopower of multiwalled carbon nanotubes considered within a bundle of nanotubes are calculated taking into account multiple scattering of electrons on the atoms of impurities (like single carbon atoms) and short-range order regions arising due to a some distribution of the impurities. The calculations are realized on a base of the temperature diagrammatic Feynman techniques and the results of our research are in a good quantitative and qualitative agreement with the corresponding experimental data for multiwalled carbon nanotubes with diameter less or equal 10 nm at T<50K.