Enhanced and switchable nanoscale thermal conduction due to van der Waals interfaces
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Updated: May 26, 2026

Residue-Free Fabrication of van der Waals Heterostructures of Two-Dimensional Materials
Published on: July 18, 2025
Juekuan Yang1, Yang Yang, Scott W Waltermire
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
Abstract:
Understanding thermal transport in nanostructured materials is important for the development of energy conversion applications and the thermal management of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Most nanostructures interact through van der Waals interactions, and these interactions typically lead to a reduction in thermal transport. Here, we show that the thermal conductivity of a bundle of boron nanoribbons can be significantly higher than that of a single free-standing nanoribbon. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of the bundle can be switched between the enhanced values and that of a single nanoribbon by wetting the van der Waals interface between the nanoribbons with various solutions.
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Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant heat.
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