2D material has record-breaking thermal properties

Abstract

A material made by stacking 2D sheets of molybdenum disulfide is a strong thermal conductor in two dimensions but blocks heat transfer from layer to layer. The material conducts heat 900 times as well in-plane as it does perpendicularly ( Nature 2021, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03867-8 ). This is threefold higher than the previous record holder, single crystalline graphite. Materials engineered to carefully control the flow of heat could prevent computer chips from overheating and keep electronic devices cool to the touch. But when using conventional materials, making heat move only in a particular direction is challenging, says Jiwoong Park , a materials chemist at the University of Chicago. Park and his collaborators, David Cahill at the University of Illinois and Paul Erhart of the Chalmers University of Technology, were curious about how well sheets of randomly stacked, atomically thin crystals would do. Other researchers have tried to create such directional insulation