Effective thermal transport properties in multiphase biological systems containing carbon nanomaterials

Abstract

Here we report computational results from an off-lattice Monte Carlo investigation of the effective thermal transport properties in multiphase biological systems containing carbon nanomaterials. A three-phase system that consists of a cell, healthy tissue and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was built in silico for this study. The CNTs were embedded in both the cell and the healthy tissue. The effective thermal conductivity (K_eff) of such biological systems can be predicted by taking into account the dispersion of the CNTs and the interfacial thermal resistances (ITRs) between any pair of components. We quantitatively investigated the effects of the distribution (CNTs at different locations in the system), concentration (0.01–0.1 vol%), and morphology (diameter of 2–10 nm, length of 200–800 nm) of the CNTs on the K_eff of the biological systems. Additionally, we studied the effects of the ITRs between any pair of components (0.05–76.5 × 10⁻⁸ m² K W⁻¹) on the K_eff of the biological systems. The results showed that greater enhancement of the K_eff values of the biological systems can be achieved by using longer CNTs in higher concentration, and reducing the ITRs between the CNTs and their surroundings. Finally, CNTs embedded on the cell membrane have a stronger effect than being dispersed within the cell or in the tissue surrounding the cell.