Realization of a thermal cloak-concentrator using a metamaterial transformer

By combining rotating squares with auxetic properties, we developed a metamaterial transformer capable of realizing metamaterials with tunable functionalities. We investigated the use of a metamaterial transformer-based thermal cloak-concentrator that can change from a cloak to a concentrator when the device configuration is transformed. We established that the proposed dual-functional metamaterial can either thermally protect a region (cloak) or focus heat flux in a small region (concentrator). The dual functionality was verified by finite element simulations and validated by experiments with a specimen composed of copper, epoxy, and rotating squares. This work provides an effective and efficient method for controlling the gradient of heat, in addition to providing a reference for other thermal metamaterials to possess such controllable functionalities by adapting the concept of a metamaterial transformer.