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

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.