Experimental study of thermal rectification in suspended monolayer graphene

Haidong Wang,Xing Zhang,Shiqian Hu,Koji Takahashi,Hiroshi Takamatsu,Jie Chen

doi:10.1038/ncomms15843

Haidong Wang, Xing Zhang + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15843

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Abstract

Thermal rectification is a fundamental phenomenon for active heat flow control. Significant thermal rectification is expected to exist in the asymmetric nanostructures, such as nanowires and thin films. As a one-atom-thick membrane, graphene has attracted much attention for realizing thermal rectification as shown by many molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we experimentally demonstrate thermal rectification in various asymmetric monolayer graphene nanostructures. A large thermal rectification factor of 26% is achieved in a defect-engineered monolayer graphene with nanopores on one side. A thermal rectification factor of 10% is achieved in a pristine monolayer graphene with nanoparticles deposited on one side or with a tapered width. The results indicate that the monolayer graphene has great potential to be used for designing high-performance thermal rectifiers for heat flow control and energy harvesting.

Highlights

Thermal rectification is a fundamental phenomenon for active heat flow control
Many molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been reported for different asymmetric graphene nanostructures with thermal rectification factors Z 1⁄4 |lF À lB|/lB from 10–120%3,12–14,16–19
This work reports on two different thermal rectification phenomena in suspended monolayer graphene

Summary

Introduction

Thermal rectification is a fundamental phenomenon for active heat flow control. Significant thermal rectification is expected to exist in the asymmetric nanostructures, such as nanowires and thin films. We experimentally demonstrate thermal rectification in various asymmetric monolayer graphene nanostructures. A large thermal rectification factor of 26% is achieved in a defect-engineered monolayer graphene with nanopores on one side. A thermal rectification factor of 10% is achieved in a pristine monolayer graphene with nanoparticles deposited on one side or with a tapered width. More significant thermal rectification could be expected for different mechanisms[3]. Many molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been reported for different asymmetric graphene nanostructures with thermal rectification factors Z 1⁄4 |lF À lB|/lB from 10–120% (lF and lB are the thermal conductivities in the forward and backward heat flow directions)[3,12,13,14,16,17,18,19]. Theoretical and MD analysis show two different mechanisms for the varied thermal rectification behaviour in the different asymmetric graphene nanostructures

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