Understanding the Joule-heating behaviours of electrically-heatable carbon-nanotube aerogels

Abstract

Cylindrical monolithic, electrically-heatable reduced carbon nanotube (rCNT) aerogels were synthesized to exploit their Joule-heating behaviours using two different arrangements (i.e.the top-bottom arrangement and the side-side arrangement) under different compressive strains. The top-bottom arrangement results in faster heating kinetics (up to 286 K min−1), higher heating efficiency (up to 80 °C W−1), a more uniform temperature distribution profile and higher electro-thermal conversion efficiency than the side-side arrangement. This study provides fundamental perspectives for exploiting the Joule-heating behaviours of geometrically complex nanocarbon aerogels, and thus will have important implications in strain-sensitive materials.