Thermal rectifiers from deformed carbon nanohorns

We study thermal rectification in single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWNHs) by using a non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) method. It is found that the horns with the bigger top angles show larger asymmetric heat transport due to the larger structural gradient distribution. This kind of gradient behavior can be further adjusted by applying external strain on the SWNHs. After being carefully elongated along the axial direction, thermal rectification in the elongated SWNHs can become more obvious than that in undeformed SWNHs. The maximum rectification efficiency of SWNHs is much bigger than that of carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions.