Reversal of thermal rectification in one-dimensional nonlinear composite system

Abstract

Using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, a comprehensive study of the asymmetric heat conduction in the composite system consisting of the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model and Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) model is conducted. The calculated results show that in a larger system, the rectifying direction can be reversed only by adjusting the thermal bias. Moreover, the rectification reversal depends critically on the system size and the properties of the interface. The mechanisms of the two types of asymmetric heat conduction induced by nonlinearity are discussed. Considering the novel asymmetric heat conduction in the system, it may possess possible applications to manage the thermal rectification in situ directionally without re-building the structure.

Thermal rectification induced by Wenzel–Cassie wetting state transition on nano-structured solid–liquid interfaces

“…[9,10] In the past decades, the thermal rectification phenomenon has been investigated in solid materials with asymmetric structures. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] In 1936, the thermal rectification phenomenon has been reported in a system with copper/cuprous oxide interface, which is caused by the electron-phonon scattering at the interface. [11] Then, several thermal rectification mechanisms have been proposed, including the thermal potential barrier at the interface, [12] temperature-dependent interfacial thermal resistance or bulk thermal conductivity, [13,14] asymmetric nanostructures, [15] and electron transfer.…”

“…[21,22] However, the primary drawbacks of thermal rectification in solid lattice systems are manufacturing difficulty. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Recently, thermal rectification through solid-liquid (S-L) interfaces has been proposed, wherein the thermal rectification can be manipulated by varying the temperature and pressure of the system. [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] In Ref.…”