Chapter 10 - Electrical Transport Properties in Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

This chapter introduces the main electronic features of CNTs and some general aspects of electronic conduction and transmission. The main experimental results obtained on the electrical resistivity of MWCNT and SWCNT and the very recent data relative to the thermopower of SWCNT bundles have also been presented. MWCNTs behave as an ultimate carbon fiber revealing specific 2D quantum transport features at low temperatures; weak localization and universal conductance fluctuations. At high temperature its electrical conductivity is described by means of the semiclassical models which were successful in describing graphite. At low temperature, they reveal 2D quantum transport features, one of them being observed in bulk carbons and graphites (weak localization), while the other can only be observed in a mesoscopic form (universal conductance fluctuations). Single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) behave as pure quantum wires, which, if limited in length, reduce to quantum dots. Eeach type of CNT has its own features which are strongly dependent on the dimensionality of the electronic gas. The chapter also discusses the effect of intercalation on the electrical resistivity of SWCNT bundles and some potential applications.