Because carbon nanotubes contained Stone-Wales and other defects, the thermal conductivity was expected to be lower than the ideal value. The experimental study of thermal conductivity of nanotubes with defects had not been studied at this time because direct defect observation was usually quite difficult, even using state-of-the-art microscopy. The thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes with and without Stone-Wales defects was estimated here by using conventional molecular dynamics simulation.

Molecular Dynamics Study of Thermal Conductivity of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube with Stone-Wales Defects. S.Ogata, Y.Hanao, Y.Shibutani: Journal of the Society of Materials Science, 2006, 55[8], 754-9