Graphene coated 3C-SiC with improved irradiation resistance and enhanced heat conduction property after collision cascade

XN Huang and J Guo and YN Yue, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER, 194, 122988 (2022).

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2022.122988

Graphene/SiC nanocomposites are promising materials with excellent irradiation resistance. In this study, the structure of 3C-SiC coated with graphene layers is proposed to improve SiC's irradiation resistance. The atomistic mechanisms behind the irradiation resistance and irradiation's effect on the thermal conductance of the composite are investigated through molecular dynamics simulations. Results show that the graphene layers effectively enhanced the irradiation resistance of SiC in the composite with increased threshold displacement energy when irradiated with a carbon primary knock-on atom (PICA). Influence factors, i.e., graphene layer number, incident angle of the PICA, and temperature, of irradiation resistance are also studied by collision cascade simulations. In addition, the heat conduction of the composite is enhanced after the irradiation with the 1.5 keV carbon PICA. The resistance dominates the thermal transport at the graphene layers near the interface instead of the interface. The largest temperature drop occurs between the interface and the penultimate graphene layer, consistent with the significant mismatch of their vibrational density of states. After irradiation with the 1.5 keV carbon PICA, the thermal conductance of the graphene/SiC composites increases, and the interface thermal resistance decreases due to the formed bonds between the graphene layers. Overall, this work provides a fundamental understanding of the irradiation resistance and the thermal properties of the graphene/SiC composite. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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