Projektbeschreibung
Über thermische Dioden und Schalter die Wärme im Sinne von Kühlung und Energiemanagement steuern
Thermische Schalter und Dioden steuern analog zu den elektrischen Bauelementen den Wärmefluss. Sie kommen in zunehmendem Maße in Anwendungen wie Heizkesseln, Lufterhitzern und Heizungsanlagen zum Einsatz. Heute übliche thermische Schalter und Dioden arbeiten mit geringem Wirkungsgrad oder sind nicht für kleine Räume geeignet, was ihre Anwendung in der Kältetechnik, Elektronik und in Systemen für erneuerbare Energien einschränkt. Das ERC-finanzierte Projekt DYNAMHEAT wird die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Phononen und spontan auftretenden planaren Defekten, den sogenannten Domänenwänden, in ferroelektrischen und ferroelastischen Oxiden ausnutzen, um kompakte und effiziente thermische Schalter und Dioden bereitzustellen. Domänenwände lassen sich problemlos durch Anlegen einer geringen Spannung oder eines niedrigen Drucks erzeugen, bewegen und ausrichten, wodurch große, steuerbare und rekonfigurierbare Änderungen der Wärmeleitfähigkeiten möglich werden.
Ziel
Tackling climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our modern society and requires researching new refrigeration and renewable energy systems. Performances of all these systems could be significantly improved if they were combined with solid-state thermal switches and diodes. Current strategies that require to nanostructure materials or to operate in the vicinity of a phase transition, lead to thermal switches or thermal diodes with low efficiencies or not suitable for applications where space is limited. Furthermore, once designed, thermal properties of these elements are set and cannot be modified.
My objective is to investigate a fundamentally new mechanism to design compact and efficient thermal switches and diodes. My strategy exploits, in ferroelectric and ferroelastic oxides, the interactions between phonons and spontaneously occurring planar defects known as domain walls. Domain walls can be easily generated, moved, and oriented by application of a small voltage or a small uniaxial pressure, and interact with phonons as defects do. They are thus perfect interfaces to achieve large and reconfigurable anisotropies in thermal conductivities in controlled directions in a fast and reversible way.
In this ambitious project, I develop a novel approach to demonstrate a dynamic heat flow control through (i) the reversible engineering of the density of domain walls in desired directions, and (ii) the development of advanced experimental techniques for in-operando thermal characterizations. My multidisciplinary strategy will unravel the interactions between phonons and domain walls to reach higher thermal conductivity variations, and lead to ground-breaking thermal switches and diodes. These thermal switches and diodes will be compatible with a large range of devices and have an impact in many fields critical for our transition toward a sustainable future (e.g. solid-state refrigeration, solar panels, thermoelectric devices).
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringthermodynamic engineering
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesatomic physics
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpiezoelectrics
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Gastgebende Einrichtung
75794 Paris
Frankreich