Electrically driven incandescence of carbon nanotubes in controlled gaseous environments

Carbon nanotube buckypaper was electrically driven to incandescence in controlled environments of air composition vacuum, argon and helium. The optical spectrum of the blackbody radiation was analyzed to characterize the emission at different pressures in the various environments. The incandescence intensity and temperature were found to be lower at higher pressures, with the observations attributed to increased heat loss by conduction and convection to the ambient. A modified thermal conduction equation is suggested to explain the experimental results. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc.