Descripción del proyecto
Control del calor con diodos y conmutadores térmicos para refrigeración y gestión energética
Los diodos y conmutadores térmicos, análogos a los eléctricos, controlan el flujo de calor. Cada vez se emplean más en aplicaciones como, por ejemplo, calderas, calentadores de aire y sistemas de calefacción. Los diodos y conmutadores térmicos actuales tienen una baja eficiencia o no son adecuados para espacios pequeños, lo cual limita su uso en refrigeración, dispositivos electrónicos y sistemas de energía renovable. En el proyecto DYNAMHEAT, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, se aprovecharán las interacciones entre fonones y defectos planares espontáneos, denominados «paredes de dominio en óxidos ferroeléctricos y ferroelásticos», para crear diodos y conmutadores térmicos compactos y eficientes. Las paredes de dominio se pueden producir, mover y orientar con facilidad mediante la aplicación de una pequeña tensión o presión, lo que permite cambios grandes, controlados y reconfigurables en las conductividades térmicas.
Objetivo
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).
Ámbito científico
- 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
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Institución de acogida
75794 Paris
Francia