Experimental study of thermal rectification in suspended monolayer graphene

HD Wang and SQ Hu and K Takahashi and X Zhang and H Takamatsu and J Chen, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 8, 15843 (2017).

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15843

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.

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