Thermal Conductance of Cu and Carbon Nanotube Interface Enhanced by a Graphene Layer

Thermal conductances between Cu and graphene covered carbon nanotubes (gCNTs) are calculated by molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the thermal conductance is about ten times larger than that of Cu-CNT interface. The enhanced thermal conductance is due to the larger contact area introduced by the graphene layer and the stronger thermal transfer ability of the Cu-gCNT interface. From the linear increasing thermal conductance with the increasing total contact area, an effective contact area of such an interface can be defined.