The thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes with certain defects (doping, Stone-Wales, and vacancy) was investigated by using the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics method. The defective carbon nanotubes were compared with perfect tubes. The influences of type and concentration of the defect, length, diameter, and chirality of the tube, and the ambient temperature were taken into consideration. It was demonstrated that defects result in a dramatic reduction of thermal conductivity. Doping and Stone-Wales defects have greater effect on armchair tubes, while vacancy affects the zig-zag ones more. Thermal conductivity of the nanotubes increased, reached a peak, and then decreased with increasing temperature. The temperature at which the thermal conductivity peak occurred was dependent upon the defect type. Unlike Stone-Wales or vacancy tubes, doped tubes were similar to the perfect ones with a sharp peak at the same temperature. The thermal conductivity increased when the tube length increased or the diameter decreased. It appeared that the length of thermal conductivity convergence for Stone-Wales tubes was much shorter than for perfect or vacancy ones. The Stone-Wales or vacancy tubes were less sensitive to the diameter change; compared with perfect ones.

Effects of Doping, Stone-Wales and Vacancy Defects on Thermal Conductivity of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes. D.L.Feng, Y.H.Feng, Y.Chen, W.Li, X.X.Zhang: Chinese Physics B, 2013, 22[1], 016501