Issue 20, 2016

Heat transport through a solid–solid junction: the interface as an autonomous thermodynamic system

Abstract

We perform computational experiments using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, showing that the interface between two solid materials can be described as an autonomous thermodynamic system. We verify the local equilibrium and give support to the Gibbs description of the interface also away from the global equilibrium. In doing so, we reconcile the common formulation of the thermal boundary resistance as the ratio between the temperature discontinuity at the interface and the heat flux with a more rigorous derivation from nonequilibrium thermodynamics. We also show that thermal boundary resistance of a junction between two pure solid materials can be regarded as an interface property, depending solely on the interface temperature, as implicitly assumed in some widely used continuum models, such as the acoustic mismatch model. Thermal rectification can be understood on the basis of different interface temperatures for the two flow directions.

Graphical abstract: Heat transport through a solid–solid junction: the interface as an autonomous thermodynamic system

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
20 Mar 2016
Accepted
25 Apr 2016
First published
26 Apr 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016,18, 13741-13745

Author version available

Heat transport through a solid–solid junction: the interface as an autonomous thermodynamic system

R. Rurali, L. Colombo, X. Cartoixà, Ø. Wilhelmsen, T. T. Trinh, D. Bedeaux and S. Kjelstrup, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 13741 DOI: 10.1039/C6CP01872F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements