A thermal diode and novel implementation in a phase-change material

Abstract

The development of devices suitable for heat management requires materials whose thermal properties and synthesis are well controlled. Phase-changing materials are both highly tunable and well characterized, and therefore promising as building blocks for thermal devices. Here we introduce a novel design of a thermal diode based on a phase changing material, and we validate it by realizing a proof-of-concept device consisting of a series of PNIPAM (the phase changing material) and PDMS. Thermal measurements of our thermal diode demonstrate heat rectification, with a rectification coefficient on the order of two. A simple model is used to describe the experimental results.