Abstract
Materials with tunable thermal properties enable on-demand control of temperature and heat flow, which is an integral component in the development of solid-state refrigeration, energy scavenging, and thermal circuits. Although gap-based and liquid-based thermal switches that work on the basis of mechanical movements have been an effective approach to control the flow of heat in the devices, their complex mechanisms impose considerable costs in latency, expense, and power consumption. As a consequence, materials that have multiple solid-state phases with distinct thermal properties are appealing for thermal management due to their simplicity, fast switching, and compactness. Thus, an ideal thermal switch should operate near or above room temperature, have a simple trigger mechanism, and offer a quick and large on/off switching ratio. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate that manipulating phonon scattering rates can switch the thermal conductivity of antiferroelectric PbZrO3 bidirectionally by −10% and +25% upon applying electrical and thermal excitation, respectively. Our approach takes advantage of two separate phase transformations in PbZrO3 that alter the phonon scattering rate in different manners. In this study, we demonstrate that PbZrO3 can serve as a fast (<1 second), repeatable, simple trigger, and reliable thermal switch with a net switching ratio of nearly 38% from ~1.20 to ~1.65 W m−1 K−1.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1573 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
R.G. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under Grant DMR-1708615. L.W.M. acknowledges support from the Army Research Office under Grant W911NF-21-1-0118. A.S., E.R.H., E.J.O., J.F.I., and P.E.H. acknowledge support from a Research Innovation Award from the University of Virginia. K.A., M.S.B.H., and J.F.I. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under Grant DMR-2006231. S.M. was supported by the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to join the Biotechnology Training Program (an NIH training grant). This work was supported in part by the NSF I/UCRC on Multi-functional Integrated System Technology (MIST) Center IIP-1439644, IIP-1439680, and IIP-1738752. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Building Technologies Office (BTO) award number DE-EE0009157. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of its employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. R.G. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under Grant DMR-1708615. L.W.M. acknowledges support from the Army Research Office under Grant W911NF-21-1-0118. A.S., E.R.H., E.J.O., J.F.I., and P.E.H. acknowledge support from a Research Innovation Award from the University of Virginia. K.A., M.S.B.H., and J.F.I. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under Grant DMR-2006231. S.M. was supported by the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to join the Biotechnology Training Program (an NIH training grant). This work was supported in part by the NSF I/UCRC on Multi-functional Integrated System Technology (MIST) Center IIP-1439644, IIP-1439680, and IIP-1738752. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Building Technologies Office (BTO) award number DE-EE0009157. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of its employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.