Edge and Surface Effects on The Phonon Thermal Transport in Graphene

Description

Graphene is a unique material offering many possible applications which have attracted great interests in the research community but are hindered in thermal related applications due to the lack of precise modulation of thermal transport in graphene. To find a solution, we propose to explore the possibility to modulate the thermal conductivity of graphene/graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) using edge and surface chemistry by performing molecular dynamics simulations. We will examine the edge passivation effects on the thermal conductivity of GNRs and investigate the surface non-covalent bond effects on the thermal transport in graphene sheet. We expect that thermal conductivity of graphene/GNRs can be effectively and reliably controlled with edge passivants, surface adsorbents and/or substrate films. The outcomes could help to tune thermoelectric performance of graphene via edge and surface chemistry as well as substrate technology in experiments.