Giant thermal rectification efficiency by geometrically enhanced asymmetric non-linear radiation.

Thermal rectification is an asymmetric heat transport phenomenon where thermal conductance changes depending on the temperature gradient direction. The experimentally reported efficiency of thermal rectification materials and devices, which are applicable for a wide range of temperatures, is relatively low. Here we report a giant thermal rectification efficiency of 218% by maximizing asymmetry in parameters of the Stefan-Boltzmann law for highly non-linear thermal radiation. The asymmetry in emissivity is realized by sputter-depositing manganese (ε = ∼0.38) on the top right half surface of a polyurethane specimen (ε = ∼0.98). The surface area of the polyurethane side is also dramatically increased (1302%) by 3D printing to realize asymmetry in geometry. There is an excellent agreement between the experimentally measured temperature profiles and finite element simulation results, demonstrating the reliability of the analysis. Machine learning analysis reveals that the surface area is a dominant factor for thermal rectification and suggests novel light-weight designs with high efficiencies. This work may find applications in energy efficient thermal rectification management of electronic devices and housings.

Tunable solid-state thermal rectification by asymmetric nonlinear radiation.

Thermal rectification is a direction-dependent asymmetric heat transport phenomenon. Here we report the tunable solid-state thermal rectification by asymmetric nonlinear far-field radiation. The asymmetry in thermal conductivity and emissivity of a three-terminal device is realized by sputtering a thin metal film (radiation barrier: niobium, copper, or silver) on the top right half of a polyethylene terephthalate strip (emitter). Both the experiment and finite element analysis are in excellent agreement, revealing a thermal rectification ratio (TR) of 13.0% for the niobium-deposited specimen. The simulation demonstrates that the TR can be further increased to 74.5% by tuning asymmetry in thermal conductivity, emissivity, and surface area. The rectification can also be actively controlled, by gating the environmental temperature, resulting in a maximum TR of 93.1%. This work is applicable for a wide range of temperatures and device sizes, which may find applications in on-demand heat control and thermal logic gates.

Janus Graphene Oxide Sponges for High-Purity Fast Separation of Both Water-in-Oil and Oil-in-Water Emulsions.

Membrane separation of oil and water with high purity and high permeability is of great interest in environmental and industrial processes. However, membranes with fixed wettability can separate only one type of surfactant-stabilized emulsion (water-in-oil or oil-in-water). Here, we report on Janus graphene oxide (J-GO) sponges for high purity and high permeability separation of both water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions. Millimeter-scale reduced GO sponges with a controlled pore size (11.2 or 94.1 µm) are synthesized by freeze drying, and the wettability is further controlled by fluorine (hydrophobic/oleophilic in air) or oxygen (hydrophilic/oleophilic in air) functionalization. J-GO sponges are prepared by the fluorine functionalization on one side and oxygen functionalization on the other side. Interestingly, the oil wettability of oxygen-functionalized surface turns into an oleophobic surface when immersed in water, which is explained by Young's theory. This effect is further used in the separation of both water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions by changing the flow direction. The purity of the separated oil and water is very high (≥99.2%), and the permeability is more than an order of magnitude greater than those of the other Janus membranes reported. J-GO sponges can be reused with an excellent repeatability, demonstrating feasibility in practical applications.

Extraordinarily high conductivity of flexible adhesive films by hybrids of silver nanoparticle-nanowires.

Highly conductive flexible adhesive (CFA) film was developed using micro-sized silver flakes (primary fillers), hybrids of silver nanoparticle-nanowires (secondary fillers) and nitrile butadiene rubber. The hybrids of silver nanoparticle-nanowires were synthesized by decorating silver nanowires with silver nanoparticle clusters using bifunctional cysteamine as a linker. The dispersion in ethanol was excellent for several months. Silver nanowires constructed electrical networks between the micro-scale silver flakes. The low-temperature surface sintering of silver nanoparticles enabled effective joining of silver nanowires to silver flakes. The hybrids of silver nanoparticle-nanowires provided a greater maximum conductivity (54 390 S cm(-1)) than pure silver nanowires, pure multiwalled carbon nanotubes, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes decorated with silver nanoparticles in nitrile butadiene rubber matrix. The resistance change was smallest upon bending when the hybrids of silver nanoparticle-nanowires were employed. The adhesion of the film on polyethylene terephthalate substrate was excellent. Light emitting diodes were successfully wired to the CFA circuit patterned by the screen printing method for application demonstration.

Silver nanowires decorated with silver nanoparticles for low-haze flexible transparent conductive films.

Silver nanowires have attracted much attention for use in flexible transparent conductive films (TCFs) due to their low sheet resistance and flexibility. However, the haze was too high for replacing indium-tin-oxide in high-quality display devices. Herein, we report flexible TCFs, which were prepared using a scalable bar-coating method, with a low sheet resistance (24.1 Ω/sq at 96.4% transmittance) and a haze (1.04%) that is comparable to that of indium-tin-oxide TCFs. To decrease the haze and maintain a low sheet resistance, small diameter silver nanowires (~20 nm) were functionalized with low-temperature surface-sintering silver nanoparticles (~5 nm) using bifunctional cysteamine. The silver nanowire-nanoparticle ink stability was excellent. The sheet resistance of the TCFs was decreased by 29.5% (from 34.2 to 24.1 Ω/sq) due to the functionalization at a low curing temperature of 85 °C. The TCFs were highly flexible and maintained their stability for more than 2 months and 10,000 bending cycles after coating with a protective layer.

Enhanced electrical conductivity and hardness of silver-nickel composites by silver-coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

We investigated electrical conductivity and Vickers hardness of Ag- and Ni-based composites prepared by powder metallurgy involving spark plasma sintering. The starting composition was Ag:Ni = 61:39 vol%, which provided an electrical conductivity of 3.30 × 10(5) S cm(-1) and a hardness of 1.27 GPa. The addition of bare multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs, 1.45 vol%) increased hardness (1.31 GPa) but decreased electrical conductivity (2.99 × 10(5) S cm(-1)) and carrier mobility (11 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1)) due to the formation of Ni3C in the interface between the MWNTs and Ni during spark plasma sintering. The formation of Ni3C was prevented by coating the surface of the nanotubes with Ag (nAgMWNTs), concomitantly increasing electrical conductivity (3.43 × 10(5) S cm(-1)) and hardness (1.37 GPa) of the sintered specimen (Ag:Ni:nAgMWNTs = 59.55:39:1.45 vol%). The electrical contact switching time (133 357) was also increased by 30%, demonstrating excellent feasibility as electrical contact materials for electric power industries.

Carbon-nanotube/silver networks in nitrile butadiene rubber for highly conductive flexible adhesives.

An adhesive with high conductivity, flexibility, cyclability, oxidation resistance, and good adhesion is developed using microscale silver flakes, multiwalled carbon nanotubes decorated with nanoscale silver particles, and nitrile butadiene rubber. Light-emitting-diode chips are attached to the conductive, flexible adhesive pattern on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate as a visual demonstration. The brightness is invariant during bending tests.

Dielectrophoretic deposition of graphite oxide soot particles.

Alternating current dielectrophoresis in water was used to position graphite oxide soot (GO-soot) particles generated by rapid thermal expansion of graphite oxide under inert gas. The dielectrophoretic deposition was carried out at a frequency of 10 MHz and a peak-to-peak voltage of 10 V, and the deposited particles were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. The vertical cross section, obtained by focused ion beam cutting, shows the wrinkled layers of the GO-soot particles and cavities between the layers. The electrical transport measurements show typical characteristics of metal-like pathways. The improved electrical contact between electrodes and GO-soot, probably due to the thin platelet structure of GO-soot, makes the material favorable for electrical device applications. The results demonstrate that AC dielectrophoresis can be used to selectively deposit graphite oxide soot particles at desired locations.

Single-walled carbon nanotube sensor monitoring the dissociation of argon gas.

Monitoring of argon gas dissociation was demonstrated using a matted sheet of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), prepared by alternating current dielectrophoresis. The conductance of the SWNT network increased upon exposure to dissociated byproducts induced by corona discharge (CD), and the sensor signal was recovered rapidly by purging with the pure argon. Similar experiments on argon plasma were also carried out to investigate the applicability of the SWNT sensor in the monitoring of plasma-induced dissociation. The transduction mechanisms in both CD activity and plasma were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the detection of argon dissociation generated inside the reaction zone is possible using a miniaturized SWNT sensor.