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Defect-Engineered Heat Transport in Graphene: A Route to High Efficient Thermal Rectification
Weiwei Zhao1, Yanlei Wang2, Zhangting Wu3
1Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Design and Fabrication of Micro-Nano Biomedical Instruments, School of mechanical engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China.
Scientific Reports
|July 2, 2015
Summary
Oxygen plasma treatment drastically reduces graphene thermal conductivity by creating carbonyl defects. This defect engineering enables novel thermal rectification in asymmetric graphene junctions for advanced devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Low-dimensional materials like graphene are crucial for understanding thermal transport.
- Lattice defects can be engineered at the molecular level to influence material properties.
- Graphene's thermal conductivity is sensitive to structural modifications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between lattice defects and thermal transport in graphene.
- To quantify the impact of different defect types on graphene's thermal conductivity.
- To explore the potential for thermal rectification in defective graphene structures.
Main Methods:
- Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to model thermal transport.
- Non-contact optothermal Raman spectroscopy was used for experimental measurements.
- Selective functionalization techniques were utilized to introduce specific defects.
Main Results:
- Oxygen plasma treatment significantly reduced graphene's thermal conductivity (83% reduction with ~0.1% defects), primarily due to carbonyl pair defects.
- Hydroxyl, epoxy groups, and nano-holes had a weaker impact on thermal conductivity, preserving graphene's sp2 nature.
- Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated a high thermal rectification ratio (~46%) in an asymmetric junction of graphene and defective graphene.
Conclusions:
- Carbonyl pair defects are highly effective in reducing graphene's thermal conductivity.
- Defect engineering in graphene offers a pathway to control thermal transport.
- The findings support the development of functional optothermal and electrothermal devices using defective two-dimensional materials.
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