Reversible temperature regulation of electrical and thermal conductivity using liquid–solid phase transitions
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Zheng_2011-Reversible termperature regulation.pdf
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Author(s)
Zheng, Ruiting
Gao, Jinwei
Wang, Jianjian
Chen, Gang
Date Issued
April 2011
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Zheng, Ruiting, Jinwei Gao, Jianjian Wang, and Gang Chen. “Reversible temperature regulation of electrical and thermal conductivity using liquid–solid phase transitions.” Nature Communications 2 (April 19, 2011): 289. © 2011 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Reversible temperature tuning of electrical and thermal conductivities of materials is of interest for many applications, including seasonal regulation of building temperature, thermal storage and sensors. Here we introduce a general strategy to achieve large contrasts in electrical and thermal conductivities using first-order phase transitions in percolated composite materials. Internal stress generated during a phase transition modulates the electrical and thermal contact resistances, leading to large contrasts in the electrical and thermal conductivities at the phase transition temperature. With graphite/hexadecane suspensions, the electrical conductivity changes 2 orders of magnitude and the thermal conductivity varies up to 3.2 times near 18 °C. The generality of the approach is also demonstrated in other materials such as graphite/water and carbon nanotube/hexadecane suspensions.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1288
