Thermoelectric Power of a Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Rope

Abstract

In this work, a rope of single-walled carbon nanotubes is prepared by using a diamond wire drawing die. At atmospheric condition, the electrical conductance and the thermoelectric voltage of single-walled carbon nanotubes rope have been investigated with the hot-side temperature ranging from 292 to 380 K, and cold-side temperature at 292 K. For different temperatures in the range of 292 to 380 K at hot-side, the current-voltage curves are almost parallel to each other, indicating that the electrical conductance does not change. The dynamic characteristics of voltage at positive, zero and negative current bias demonstrate that a thermoelectric voltage is induced with a direction from hot- to cold-side. The induced thermoelectric voltage shows linear dependence on the temperature difference between hot- and cold-side. The thermoelectric power of single-walled carbon nanotubes rope is found to be positive and has a value about 17.8 +/- 1.0 microV/K. This result suggests the hole-like carriers in single-walled carbon nanotubes rope. This study will pave the way for single-walled carbon nanotubes based thermoelectric devices.