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Van der Waals interaction-tuned heat transfer in nanostructures
Tao Sun1, Jianxiang Wang, Wei Kang
1State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex System, Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Nanoscale
|November 14, 2012
Summary
Van der Waals (vdW) interactions enhance thermal conductivity in nanostructures. This study shows vdW interface interactions adjust parallel thermal conductivity, with efficiency depending on interaction strength and temperature.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Interfaces typically hinder heat transfer in heterogeneous materials.
- Experimental evidence shows van der Waals (vdW) interactions boost in-plane thermal conductivity in nanostructure bundles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how vdW interactions influence thermal conductivity parallel to interfaces in nanostructures.
- To model heat transfer in nonlinear 1D lattices with vdW interactions.
Main Methods:
- Simulating heat transfer in nanostructures using a nonlinear 1D lattice model.
- Analyzing the impact of vdW interaction intensity and temperature on thermal conductivity.
Main Results:
- vdW interface interactions can effectively tune the parallel thermal conductivity.
- The adjustment efficiency is dependent on both interaction strength and temperature.
- A nonlinear relationship between conductivity and interaction intensity was observed.
Conclusions:
- vdW interactions are crucial for managing thermal transport in nanostructures.
- The findings align with experimental data from carbon nanotube bundles, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, multilayer graphene, and nanoribbons.
- This research provides a theoretical basis for designing materials with tailored thermal properties.
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