Theoretical and experimental investigation on enhanced thermal behaviour in chunk-shaped nano ZnO

Thermal properties of chunk-shaped ZnO nanostructures are studied for diffusivity, conductivity, and effusivity by photoacoustics (PA) and simulation methods. Thermal conductivity of nano ZnO was determined from simulation in the temperature range of 100–1000 K. Thermal conductivity of ZnO nanostructures at room temperature is approximately 52 and 128 times lower than that of bulk ZnO for PA and simulation, respectively. For simulation, Tersoff potential is used for the interatomic interaction. The velocity autocorrelation function and Green–Kubo relation are used to compute the thermal conductivity.