Thermal transport of carbon nanomaterials

The diversity of thermal transport properties in carbon nanomaterials enables them to be used in different thermal fields such as heat dissipation, thermal management, and thermoelectric conversion. In the past two decades, much effort has been devoted to study the thermal conductivities of different carbon nanomaterials. In this review, different theoretical methods and experimental techniques for investigating thermal transport in nanosystems are first summarized. Then, the thermal transport properties of various pure carbon nanomaterials including 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D graphene, 3D carbon foam, are reviewed in details and the associated underlying physical mechanisms are presented. Meanwhile, we discuss several important influences on the thermal conductivities of carbon nanomaterials, including size, structural defects, chemisorption and strain. Moreover, we introduce different nanostructuring pathways to manipulate the thermal conductivities of carbon-based nanocomposites and focus on the wave nature of phonons for controlling thermal transport. At last, we briefly review the potential applications of carbon nanomaterials in the fields of thermal devices and thermoelectric conversion.