A detailed microscopic study of the heat transfer at a water gold interface coated with a polymer

Abstract

We investigate in detail the mechanisms of heat relaxation at a gold:water interface and address the effect of a polymer (DHLA-Jeffamine) coated at the surface. We demonstrate that above a low surface density limit, the adjunction of polymers significantly enhances the interface conductance from the metal to the fluid. From molecular dynamics simulations, we have computed the corresponding increase of thermal conductance. The physical origin of this effect is analyzed in terms of transmission spectra. Transient non-equilibrium simulations finally compare the profile of the thermal field generated with and without the polymer.