Levi N.H., Carroll D.L.
Wake Forest University, US
Keywords: bundling, carbon black, carbon nanotubes, heat efficiency
This work examines the amount of heat generated by single-wall and multi-wall carbon nanotubes to show how bundling and adequate dispersion of the tubes effects heat generation. Due to their high aspect ratio, nanotubes behave as antenna, and should couple to incident radiation more efficiently, in turn generating heat. Carbon nanotubes have strong absorption in the infrared, where body tissues are most transparent. Therefore, nanotubes are sought for highly-localized thermal ablation therapies. Carbon nanotubes are hydrophobic and bundle easily and this may affect their absorption and heating efficiency. Although nanotubes conduct heat better than carbon black no results have yet shown that nanotubes generate heat better following infrared absorption than other carbon materials. Thus, a comparative analysis of the heat generated by nanotubes versus nano-sized carbon black has been completed to show how nanotube bundling affects the efficiency of nanotube heating. The results of this work indicate that carbon nanotubes must be debundled to heat more effectively than carbon black and that care must be taken to insure that nanotubes do not rebundle following laser application.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Technical Proceedings of the 2007 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 2
Published: May 20, 2007
Pages: 303 - 305
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Medical & Biotech
Topics: Biomaterials, Materials Characterization & Imaging
ISBN: 1-4200-6183-6