Low dimensional materials allow for a drastic reduction in thermal conductivity due to enhanced phonon-boundary scattering, such that high ZT values are achieved. This was also experimentally demonstrated for traditionally poor thermoelectric materials such as silicon [1,2]. The structure of phonon modes in low dimensional channels and their influence on thermal conductivity, however, is still ...

In this paper, we have investigated the electrical properties of TiAl3Ox film as electrical gate insulator deposited by pulsed laser deposition and presented a simple method to describe the thermal diffusion behaviors of metal atoms at TiAl3Ox/Si interfacial region in detail. The TiAl3Ox films show obvious electrical hysteresis by the capacitance-voltage measurements after post-annealing treatm...

Although it has been qualitatively demonstrated that surface roughness can reduce the thermal conductivity of crystalline Si nanowires (SiNWs), the underlying reasons remain unknown and warrant quantitative studies and analysis. In this work, vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) grown SiNWs were controllably roughened and then thoroughly characterized with transmission electron microscopy to obtain detaile...

Ionic polymer hydrogels with thermal responsive units are found to induce higher water permeation rates in the osmosis process, and higher water release rates under a combination of pressure and thermal stimuli. These hydrogels have the potential for use as draw agent in forward osmosis desalination.

Thermal transport in multilayers (MLs) has attracted significant interest and shows promising applications. Unlike their single-component counterparts, MLs exhibit a thermal conductivity that can be effectively engineered by both the number density of the layers and the interfacial thermal resistance between layers, with the latter being highly tunable via the contrast of acoustic properties of...

In this paper we reported the results on the low-temperature thermal oxidation of Si nanowires. Various polygon-shaped Si nanowires with linewidths between 100 and 300 nm were fabricated on Si/Si1ÿxGex=Si heterostructure substrates by using lithography, reactive ion etching, and subsequent selective chemical etching. We find that oxidized Si nanowires following 750 and 775 C wet oxidation will ...

A large thermoelectric power factor in heavily boron-doped p-type nanograined Si with grain sizes ∼30 nm and grain boundary regions of ∼2 nm is reported. The reported power factor is ∼5 times higher than in bulk Si. It originates from the surprising observation that for a specific range of carrier concentrations, the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient increase simultaneously. The t...

1. In cat there are two portions of the spinothalamic tract (STT)--a ventral component, the ventral spinothalamic tract (VSTT) made up of axons of cells of spinal cord laminae IV-X, and a dorsolateral component, the dorsolateral spinothalamic tract (DSTT) made up of axons of cells in lamina I of the spinal cord dorsal horn. This study was designed to evaluate thalamic neuronal responses to cuta...

Energy supply systems are usually considered as individual sub-systems with separate energy vectors. However, the use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units, heat pumps and electric boilers creates linkages between electricity and heat networks. Two combined analysis methods were developed to investigate the performance of electricity and heat networks as an integrated whole. These two methods ...

Copoly(ethylene terephthalate-imide)s (PETIs) were synthesized by the melt copolycondensation of bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate with a new imide monomer, N,N9-bis[p-(2-hydroxyethoxycarbonyl)phenyl]-biphenyl-3,39,4,49-tetracarboxydiimide (BHEI). The copolymers were characterized by intrinsic viscosity, Fourier transform infrared, H NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric ...