Estimating thermal conductivity of amorphous silica nanoparticles and nanowires using molecular dynamics simulations.

In several recent applications, including those aimed at developing thermal interface materials, nanoparticulate systems have been proposed to improve the effective behavior of the system. While nanoparticles by themselves may have low conductivities relative to larger particles owing to interfacial resistance, their use along with larger particles is believed to enhance the percolation threshold leading to better effective behavior overall. One critical challenge in using nanoparticulate systems is the lack of knowledge regarding their thermal conductivity.