Papers by Keyword: Nanoscale Heat Transfer

Abstract: Graphene layers were deposited on the surface of NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) to enhance the spherical indentation depth and the phase transformed volume through an extra nanoscale cooling. The graphene-deposited NiTi SMA showed deeper nanoindentation depths during the solid-state phase transition, especially at the rate dependent loading zone. Larger superelastic deformation confirmed that the nanoscale latent heat transfer through the deposited graphene layers allowed larger phase transformed volume in the bulk and, therefore, more stress relaxation and depth can be achieved. During the indentation loading, the temperature of the phase transformed zone in the stressed bulk increased by ~12-43°C as the loading rate increased from 4,500 μN/s to 30,000 μN/s. The layers of graphene enhanced the cooling process at different loading rates by decreasing the temperature up to ~3-10°C depending on the loading rate.

Abstract: Energy transport in nanostructures differs significantly from macrostructures because of classical and quantum size effects on energy carriers. Experimental results show that the thermal conductivity values of nanostructures such as superlattices are significantly lower than that of their bulk constituent materials. The reduction in thermal conductivity led to a large increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit in several superlattice systems. Materials with a large thermoelectric figure of merit can be used to develop efficient solid-state devices that convert waste heat into electricity. Superlattices grown by thin-film deposition techniques, however, are not suitable for large scale applications. Nanocomposites represent one approach that can lead to high thermoelectric figure merit. This paper reviews the current understanding of thermal conductivity reduction mechanisms in superlattices and presents theoretical studies on thermoelectric properties in semiconducting nanocomposites, aiming at developing high efficiency thermoelectric energy conversion materials.