Application of Carbon Nanotube Composites for Thermal Management
Brian Mayeaux*, a, Bradley Filesa, Sivaram Arepallib, Pavel Nikolaevb, Olga Gorelikb, c
aNASA Johnson Space Center,
Houston, TX 77058 USA
bGB Tech,
2200 Space Park Drive, Houston, TX
cTexas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston,
Houston, TX
This is an abstract
for a presentation given at the
Eighth
Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology.
There will be a link from here to the full article when it is
available on the web.
New techniques for thermal management in nanocomposite polymers are proposed using low percentages of dispersed carbon nanotubes to control the degree of isotropy in thermal conductivity. Samples containing nanotubes are prepared using conventional polymer processing techniques, and methods for increased surface modification of the nanotubes to promote wetting and dispersion within the polymer are discussed. Transient heating methods are employed to map directional differences in thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites relative to vapor-grown fiber control group samples. Microstructural changes affecting differences in thermal conductivity are characterized using Raman and XRD. Heat transport effects normal to the sample surface are compared to previous research in conductive polymers to identify unique contributions to thermal management from nanotube shape, size, and distribution.
*Corresponding Address:
Brian Mayeaux
NASA Johnson Space Center
Mailcode EM2
Houston, TX 77058 USA
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://jsc-web-pub.jsc.nasa.gov/ea/em/jscnano/index.htm
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