arXiv subjects

Jixiong He

Publications and source records attributed to Jixiong He.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Thermal percolation and electrical insulation in composite materials with partially metallic coated fillers

We propose a type of thermal interface materials incorporating insulating nanowires with partially metallic coating in insulating polymer matrix.Large thermal conductivity can be obtained due to thermal percolation while the electrical insulation is maintained by controlling $C_{\rm M}φ< φ_{\rm c}^{\rm e}$ and $φ> φ_{\rm c}^{\rm th}$, where $φ$ is the volume fraction of filler, $C_{\rm M}$ is the metallic coating fraction, $φ_{\rm c}^{\rm e}$ and $φ_{\rm c}^{\rm th}$ are the electrical and thermal percolation thresholds, respectively. The electrical conductivity of such composite materials can further be regulated by coating configuration. In this regard, we propose the concept of "thermal-percolation electrical-insulation", providing a guide to design efficient hybrid thermal interface materials.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2021

Revisiting the Reduction of Thermal Conductivity in Nano- to Micro-Grained Bismuth Telluride: The Importance of Grain-Boundary Thermal Resistance

Nanograined bulk alloys based on bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) are the dominant materials for room-temperature thermoelectric applications. In numerous studies, existing bulk phonon mean free path (MFP) spectra predicted by atomistic simulations suggest sub-100 nm grain sizes are necessary to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity by decreasing phonon MFPs. This is in contrast with available experimental data, where a remarkable thermal conductivity reduction is observed even for micro-grained Bi2Te3 samples. In this work, first-principles phonon MFPs along both the in-plane and cross-plane directions are re-computed for bulk Bi2Te3. These phonon MFPs can explain new and existing experimental data on flake-like Bi2Te3 nanostructures with various thicknesses. For polycrystalline Bi2Te3-based materials, a better explanation of the experimental data requires further consideration of the grain-boundary thermal resistance that can largely suppress the transport of high-frequency optical phonons.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

A Ubiquitous Thermal Conductivity Formula for Liquids, Polymer Glass, and Amorphous Solids

The microscopic mechanism of thermal transport in liquids and amorphous solids has been an outstanding problem for a long time. There have been several different approaches to explain the thermal conductivities for these systems, for example, the Bridgman's formula for simple liquids, the concept of the minimum thermal conductivity for amorphous solids, and the thermal resistance network model for amorphous polymers. Here, we present a ubiquitous formula to explain the thermal conductivities of liquids and amorphous solids in a unified way. The calculated thermal conductivities using this formula without fitting parameters are in excellent agreement with the experimental data for these systems. Our formula is not only providing detailed implications on microscopic mechanisms of heat transfer in these systems, but also solves the discrepancies between existing formulae and experimental data.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

A Thermal Resistance Network Model for Heat Conduction of Amorphous Polymers

Thermal conductivities (TCs) of the vast majority of amorphous polymers are in a very narrow range, 0.1 $\sim$ 0.5 Wm$^{-1}$K$^{-1}$, although single polymer chains possess TC of orders-of-magnitude higher. Entanglement of polymer chains plays an important role in determining the TC of bulk polymers. We propose a thermal resistance network (TRN) model for TC in amorphous polymers taking into account the entanglement of molecular chains. Our model explains well the physical origin of universally low TC observed in amorphous polymers. The empirical formulae of pressure and temperature dependence of TC can be successfully reproduced from our model not only in solid polymers but also in polymer melts. We further quantitatively explain the anisotropic TC in oriented polymers.

cond-mat.soft↗