Nitrogen doping and curvature effects on thermal conductivity of graphene: A non-equilibrium molecular dynamics study

In this study, the effects of nitrogen atom substitution and curvature on the thermal conductivity of graphene are studied using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. Using the optimized Tersoff potential proposed by Lindsay and Broido [L. Lindsay, D.A. Broido, Phys. Rev. B 82 (2010) 205441], the predicted thermal conductivity of graphene is close to the experimental range. It was observed that only 1% concentration of nitrogen doping in graphene decreases the thermal conductivity of graphene by more than 50% and removes its chirality dependency. Our simulations also show that graphene is a high flexible structure and suggest limited curvature effects on its thermal conductivity.     

硅功能化石墨烯热导率的分子动力学模拟

采用Tersoff势函数与Lennard-Jones势函数,结合速度形式的Verlet算法和Fourier定律,对单层和两层硅功能化石墨烯沿长度方向的导热性能进行了正向非平衡态分子动力学模拟.通过模拟发现,硅原子的加入改变了石墨烯声子的模式、平均自由程和移动速度,使得单层硅功能化石墨烯模型的热导率随着硅原子数目的增加而急剧地减小.在300 K至1000 K温度变化范围内,单层硅功能化石墨烯的热导率呈下降趋势,具有明显的温度效应.对双层硅功能化石墨烯而言,少量的硅原子嵌入,起到了提高热导率的作用,但当硅原子数目达到一定数量后,材料的导热性能下降.     

Controlling Thermal Conductivity of Few-Layer Graphene Nanoribbons by Using the Transversal Pressure

We study the thermal transport of few-layer graphene nanoribbons in the presence of the transversal pressure by using molecular dynamics simulations. It is reported that the pressure can improve the thermal conductivity of few-layer graphene nanoribbons. This improvement can reach 37.5% in the low temperature region. The pressure dependence of thermal conductivity is also investigated for different length, width and thickness of few-layer graphene. Our results provide an alternative option to tuning thermal conductivity of few-layer graphene nanoribbons. Furthermore, it maybe indicate a so-called pressure-thermal effect in nanomaterials.     

B/N掺杂类直三角石墨烯纳米带器件引起的整流效应

基于密度泛函理论结合非平衡格林函数的方法, 研究了硼(氮)非对称掺杂类直三角石墨烯纳米带器件的电子输运性能. 计算结果表明: 单个硼或氮原子取代类直三角石墨烯纳米带顶点的碳原子后, 增强了体系的电导能力, 并且出现了新颖的整流效应. 分析表明: 这是由于硼氮掺杂类直三角石墨烯纳米带器件在正负偏压下分子能级的移动方向和前线分子轨道空间分布的不对称而产生的. 最重要的是, 当左右类直三角石墨烯纳米带的顶端原子同时被硼和氮掺杂后, 体系的整流效应显著增强, 而且出现负微分电阻效应.     

Effects of bonded and non-bonded B/N codoping of graphene on its stability,interaction energy,electronic structure,and power factor

We model boron and nitrogen doped/codoped monolayer graphene to study its stability, interaction energy, electronic and thermal properties using density functional theory. It is found that a doped graphene sheet with non-bonded B or N atoms induces an attractive interaction and thus opens up the bandgap. Consequently, the power factor is enhanced. Additionally, bonded B or N atoms in doped graphene generate a repulsive interaction leading to a diminished bandgap, and thus a decreased power factor. We emphasis that enhancement of the power factor is not very sensitive to the concentration of the boron and nitrogen atoms, but it is more sensitive to the positions of the B or N atoms in ortho, meta, and para positions of the hexagonal structure of graphene. In the B and N codoped graphene, the non-bonded dopant atoms have a weak attractive interaction and interaction leading to a small bandgap, while bonded doping atoms cause a strong attractive interaction and a large bandgap. As a result, the power factor of the graphene with non-bonded doping atoms is reduced while it is enhanced for graphene with bonded doping atoms.     

Anharmonicity induced thermal modulation in stressed graphene

Thermal properties are essentially decided by atomic geometry and thus stress is the most direct way for manipulating. In this paper, we investigate stress modulation of thermal conductivity of graphene by molecular dynamics simulations and discuss the underlying microscopic mechanism. It is found that thermal conductivity of flexural-free graphene increases with compression and decreases with strain, while thermal conductivity of flexural-included graphene decreases with both compression and strain. Such difference in thermal behavior originates from the changes in the anharmonicity of the interatomic potential, where the wrinkle scattering is responsible for the thermal conductivity diminishment in flexural-included graphene under strain. By comparing the results obtained from the Tersoff and AIREBO potentials, it is revealed that the degree of the symmetry of interatomic potential determines the thermal conductivity variation of graphene. Our results indicate that the symmetry of interatomic potential should be taken into careful consideration in constructing the lattice model of graphene.     

Controlling Thermal Conductivity of Few-Layer Graphene Nanoribbons by Using the Transversal Pressure

We study the thermal transport of few-layer graphene nanoribbons in the presence of the transversal pressure by using molecular dynamics simulations.It is reported that the pressure can improve the thermal conductivity of few-layer graphene nanoribbons.This improvement can reach 37.5%in the low temperature region.The pressure dependence of thermal conductivity is also investigated for diferent length,width and thickness of few-layer graphene.Our results provide an alternative option to tuning thermal conductivity of few-layer graphene nanoribbons.Furthermore,it maybe indicate a so-called pressure-thermal efect in nanomaterials.     

Numerical simulations of graphene conductivity with realistic inter-electron potential

This paper provides results of numerical simulations of graphene conductivity. The numerical results were performed in tight-biding model with Coulomb potential screened by σ electron of carbon atoms. The dependence of the graphene conductivity on the dielectric permittivity of substrate was calculated. The results agreeds with experimental data.     

Effect of triangular vacancy defect on thermal conductivity and thermal rectification in graphene nanoribbons

We investigate the thermal transport properties of armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) possessing various sizes of triangular vacancy defect within a temperature range of 200–600 K by using classical molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that the thermal conductivities of the graphene nanoribbons decrease with increasing sizes of triangular vacancy defects in both directions across the whole temperature range tested, and the presence of the defect can decrease the thermal conductivity by more than 40% as the number of removed cluster atoms is increased to 25 (1.56% for vacancy concentration) owing to the effect of phonon–defect scattering. In the meantime, we find the thermal conductivity of defective graphene nanoribbons is insensitive to the temperature change at higher vacancy concentrations. Furthermore, the dependence of temperatures and various sizes of triangular vacancy defect for the thermal rectification ration are also detected. This work implies a possible route to achieve thermal rectifier for 2D materials by defect engineering.     

Thermal transport in semiconductor nanostructures,graphene,and related two-dimensional materials

We review experimental and theoretical results on thermal transport in semiconductor nanostructures(multilayer thin films, core/shell and segmented nanowires), single-and few-layer graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, molybdenum disulfide, and black phosphorus. Different possibilities of phonon engineering for optimization of electrical and heat conductions are discussed. The role of the phonon energy spectra modification on the thermal conductivity in semiconductor nanostructures is revealed. The dependence of thermal conductivity in graphene and related two-dimensional(2 D) materials on temperature, flake size, defect concentration, edge roughness, and strain is analyzed.     

Improvement in thermal conductivity of paraffin by adding high aspect-ratio carbon-based nano-fillers

Molecular dynamics simulations have been utilized to study thermal conductivity of liquid and solid mixtures of paraffin and carbon-based high aspect-ratio nano-additives, i.e. carbon nanotubes and graphene. In agreement with existing experimental data, we observe high enhancement in thermal conductivity through adding these graphitic nano-additives into paraffin, particularly in the solid phase. We demonstrate that this significant improvement is mainly achieved by the enhancement in thermal conductivity of the matrix itself. This is caused by carbon nanotubes and graphene promoting ordering of the matrix molecules which consequently leads to improvement of its thermal conductivity.     

基于量子修正的石墨烯纳米带热导率分子动力学表征方法

本文提出了基于量子修正的非平衡态分子动力学模型,可用于石墨烯纳米带热导率的表征.利用该模型对不同温度下,不同手性及宽度的石墨烯纳米带热导率进行了研究,结果发现:相较于经典分子动力学模型给出的热导率随温度升高而单调下降的结论,在低于Debye温度的情况下,量子修正模型的计算结果出现了反常现象.本文研究还发现,石墨烯纳米带的热导率呈现出明显的边缘效应及尺度效应:锯齿型石墨烯纳米带的热导率明显高于扶手椅型石墨烯纳米带;全温段的热导率及热导率在低温段随温度变化的斜率均随宽度的增加而增大.最后,文章用Boltzmann声子散射理论对低温段的温度效应及尺度效应进行了阐释,其理论分析结果说明文章所建模型适合在全温段范围内对不同宽度和不同手性的热导率进行精确计算,可为石墨烯纳米带在传热散热领域的应用提供理论计算和分析依据.     

Density functional theory prediction for diffusion of lithium on boron-doped graphene surface

The density functional theory (DFT) investigation shows that graphene has changed from semimetal to semiconductor with the increasing number of doped boron atoms. Lithium and boron atoms acted as charge contributors and recipients, which attracted to each other. Further investigations show that, the potential barrier for lithium diffusion on boron-doped graphene is higher than that of intrinsic graphene. The potential barrier is up to 0.22 eV when six boron atoms doped (B₆C₂₆), which is the lowest potential barrier in all the doped graphene. The potential barrier is dramatically affected by the surface structure of graphene.     

B/N掺杂对于石墨烯纳米片电子输运的影响

选用锯齿(zigzag)型石墨烯纳米片为研究对象, Au作为电极, 分子平面与Au的(111)面垂直, 并通过末端S原子化学吸附于金属表面, 构成两种分子器件: 一种是在纳米片的边缘掺杂N(B)原子, 发现电流-电压具有非线性行为, 但是整流系数较小, 特别是掺杂较多时, 整流具有不稳定性; 另一种是用烷链把两个石墨烯片连接, 在烷链附近和石墨烯片的边缘进行N(B)掺杂, 发现在烷链附近掺杂具有较大的整流, 但是掺杂的原子个数和位置会影响整流性能. 研究表明: 整流主要为正负电压下分子能级的移动方向和空间轨道分布不同导致. 部分体系中的负微分电阻现象主要由于偏压导致能级移动和透射峰形态的改变, 并且在某些偏压下主要透射通道被抑制而引起. 关键词： 石墨烯纳米片 电子输运 整流行为 非平衡格林函数方法     

Correlated charged impurity scattering in graphene

We study electron transport properties of graphene in the presence of correlated charged impurities via adsorption and thermal annealing of potassium atoms. For the same density of charged scattering centers, the sample mobility sensitively depends on temperature which sets the correlation length between the scatterers. The data are well-understood by a recent theory that allows us to quantitatively extract the temperature dependence of the correlation length. Impurity correlations also offer a self-consistent explanation to the puzzling sublinear carrier-density dependence of conductivity commonly observed in monolayer graphene samples on substrates.     

Thermal properties of triangle nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons

We investigate the thermal properties of triangle nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (TNGNs) with different nitrogen-doped concentrations (0.11% to 2.31%) at different temperatures ($200\text{K}～600\text{K}$) using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics. The results show that the nitrogen atoms doped at the edge of the defect can increase the thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons, but with the increase of the nitrogen-doped concentrations from 0.11% to 2.31%, the thermal conductivity decreases sharply. In addition, nitrogen atoms reduces the sensitivity of the thermal conductivity to temperature. Besides, the thermal rectification is found, and it increases with the raise of nitrogen-doped concentration. Finally, in order to verify the correctness of the thermal rectification, we calculate the phonon power spectra of TNGNs with nitrogen-doped concentrations of 0.11% and 2.31% at 300 K. These research has important reference value for the control of heat in microelectronic devices.     

应力对石墨烯热输运性质影响的分子动力学模拟

本文建立了低维薄膜材料导热模型,运用非平衡分子动力学模拟的方法,利用lanmmps软件对单层石墨烯纳米带的导热特性进行仿真分析,根据Fourier定律计算热导率,再对石墨烯纳米带的原子施加一定耦合应力场,把应力耦合作用下的石墨烯热导率与正常的石墨烯纳米带进行了对比研究,模拟数据结果表明:在石墨烯纳米带上施加耦合应力时,会导致石墨烯纳米带热导率升高,且随应力增加而增大,模拟范围内热导率升高2.61倍,并且应力方向会对热导率变化产生一定影响,这个研究为纳米尺度上石墨烯相关研究和进一步提升热导率提供了新思路.     

Unusually high thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes

Combining equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations with accurate carbon potentials, we determine the thermal conductivity lambda of carbon nanotubes and its dependence on temperature. Our results suggest an unusually high value, lambda approximately 6600 W/m K, for an isolated (10,10) nanotube at room temperature, comparable to the thermal conductivity of a hypothetical isolated graphene monolayer or diamond. Our results suggest that these high values of lambda are associated with the large phonon mean free paths in these systems; substantially lower values are predicted and observed for the basal plane of bulk graphite.     

非简谐振动对SiC类石墨烯热输运性质的影响

考虑到原子的非简谐振动,应用固体物理理论和方法,计算了SiC类石墨烯的简谐系数和非简谐系数,得到它的德拜温度、热容量和热导率等随温度的变化规律,探讨了原子非简谐振动对它的热输运性质的影响.结果表明:SiC类石墨烯的德拜温度随温度的升高而在117-126 K之间线性增大,定容比热随温度升高而非线性增大,热导率随温度升高而非线性减小,温度较低时变化较快,而温度较高时变化较慢,并随着温度升高而趋于常量;考虑到非简谐振动后,SiC类石墨烯的德拜温度、定容比热和热导率的值分别大于、小于和大于简谐近似的相应值,温度愈高,其差值愈大,即温度愈高,非简谐效应的影响愈显著;二维平面状的SiC类石墨烯的定容比热和热导率随温度的变化规律,与三维块状SiC晶体总体趋势相同,只是具体数值不同.     

Thermal properties of graphene and multilayer graphene: Applications in thermal interface materials

We review the thermal properties of graphene and multilayer graphene, and discuss graphene’s applications in thermal management of advanced electronics and optoelectronics. A special attention is paid to the use of the liquid-phase-exfoliated graphene and multilayer graphene as the fillers in the thermal interface materials. It has been demonstrated that addition of an optimized mixture of graphene and multilayer graphene to the composites with different matrix materials produces the record-high enhancement of the effective thermal conductivity at the small filler loading fraction (f≤10 vol%). The thermal conductivity enhancement due to the presence of graphene in the composites has been observed for a range of matrix materials used by industry. The hybrid composites where graphene is utilized together with metallic micro- and nanoparticles allow one to tune both the thermal and electrical conductivity of these materials. Theoretical considerations indicate that the graphene-based thermal interface materials can outperform those with carbon nanotubes, metal nanoparticles and other fillers owing to graphene’s geometry, mechanical flexibility and lower Kapitza resistance at the graphene–base material interface.