The adjustable thermal resistor by reversibly folding a graphene sheet

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel, instantaneously adjustable thermal resistor using folded graphene, combining theoretical analysis and simulations to explore its properties and potential experimental realization.

Contribution

It introduces a new thermal resistor design based on graphene folding, providing insights into thermal modulation of 2D materials through structural adjustments.

Findings

Thermal resistivity depends on fold spacing and total length.

Folding graphene significantly alters phonon transport.

Potential for experimental realization of adjustable thermal resistors.

Abstract

Phononic (thermal) devices are studied such as thermal diode, thermal transistors, thermal logic gates, and thermal memories. However, the thermal resistor has not been demonstrated yet. Here, we propose an instantaneously adjustable thermal resistor by folded graphene. Through theoretical analysis and molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the phonon folding effect and the dependent of thermal resistivity on the length between two folds and the overall length. Further, we discuss on the possibility to realize the instantaneously adjustable thermal resistor in experiment. Our studies bring insights in designing thermal resistor and understanding thermal modulation of 2D materials by adjusting its basic structure parameters.