High electron thermal conductivity of chiral carbon nanotubes

Solving the Boltzmann kinetic equation with energy dispersion relation obtained in the tight-binding approximation, the carrier thermal conductivity κe of a chiral carbon nanotube (CCNT) was determined. The dependence of κe on temperature T, chiral geometric angle φh and overlap integrals Δz and Δs were obtained. The results were numerically analysed. Unusually high values of κe were observed suggesting that κe is nontrivial in the calculation of the thermal conductivity κ of CCNT. More interestingly we noted also that at View the MathML source and for Δz and Δs values of 0.020 and View the MathML source, respectively the κe value is about View the MathML source as reported for a 99.9% pure View the MathML source crystal. We predict that the electron thermal conductivity of CCNT should exceed View the MathML source at View the MathML source.