Effect of Alignment on Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Polyethylene/Graphene Nanoplatelet Composite Materials

Polymers offer several advantages such as low cost, light weight, corrosion resistance and ease of processing, however, they have much lower intrinsic thermal conductivity ( 20 W/mK) which hinders their widespread applicability in thermal management technologies. Enhancement in thermal conductivity of polymer materials will lead to their more widespread use in applications such as power electronics, electric motors and heat exchangers. The focus of this research is on the effect of molecular alignment on thermal conductivity enhancement of polyethylene/graphene (PE/GNP) nanoplatelet composite materials. Pure high density polyethylene and PE/GNP nanocomposites with 7 and 10 wt% graphene nanoplatelets are prepared using melt-compounding method. Mechanical stretching is applied to achieve molecular chain alignment and several characterization techniques (Wide Angle X-ray Spectroscopy, Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy) are used to investigate the impact of mechanical stretching on PE chains and GNP flakes alignment. Finally, thermal conductivity of specimens is measured using a created set-up based on the Angstrom method. The obtained results demonstrate the promise of alignment effects in achieving high thermal conductivity values

Structured illumination with thermal imaging (SI-TI): A dynamically reconfigurable metrology for parallelized thermal transport characterization

The recent push for the "materials by design"paradigm requires synergistic integration of scalable computation, synthesis, and characterization. Among these, techniques for efficient measurement of thermal transport can be a bottleneck limiting the experimental database size, especially for diverse materials with a range of roughness, porosity, and anisotropy. Traditional contact thermal measurements have challenges with throughput and the lack of spatially resolvable property mapping, while non-contact pump-probe laser methods generally need mirror smooth sample surfaces and also require serial raster scanning to achieve property mapping. Here, we present structured illumination with thermal imaging (SI-TI), a new thermal characterization tool based on parallelized all-optical heating and thermometry. Experiments on representative dense and porous bulk materials as well as a 3D printed thermoelectric thick film (∼50 μm) demonstrate that SI-TI (1) enables paralleled measurement of multiple regions and samples without raster scanning; (2) can dynamically adjust the heating pattern purely in software, to optimize the measurement sensitivity in different directions for anisotropic materials; and (3) can tolerate rough (∼3 μm) and scratched sample surfaces. This work highlights a new avenue in adaptivity and throughput for thermal characterization of diverse materials

Electrically conductive 3D printed Ti3C2Tx MXene-PEG composite constructs for cardiac tissue engineering

Tissue engineered cardiac patches have great potential as a therapeutic treatment for myocardial infarction (MI). However, for successful integration with the native tissue and proper function of the cells comprising the patch, it is crucial for these patches to mimic the ordered structure of the native extracellular matrix and the electroconductivity of the human heart. In this study, a new composite construct that can provide both conductive and topographical cues for human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (iCMs) is developed for cardiac tissue engineering applications. The constructs are fabricated by 3D printing conductive titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) MXene in pre-designed patterns on polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels, using aerosol jet printing, at a cell-level resolution and then seeded with iCMs and cultured for one week with no signs of cytotoxicity. The results presented in this work illustrate the vital role of 3D-printed Ti3C2Tx MXene on aligning iCMs with a significant increase in MYH7, SERCA2, and TNNT2 expressions, and with an improved synchronous beating as well as conduction velocity. This study demonstrates that 3D printed Ti3C2Tx MXene can potentially be used to create physiologically relevant cardiac patches for the treatment of MI

Flexible Thermoelectric Devices of Ultrahigh Power Factor by Scalable Printing and Interface Engineering

Printing is a versatile method to transform semiconducting nanoparticle inks into functional and flexible devices. In particular, thermoelectric nanoparticles are attractive building blocks to fabricate flexible devices for energy harvesting and cooling applications. However, the performance of printed devices are plagued by poor interfacial connections between nanoparticles and resulting low carrier mobility. While many rigid bulk materials have shown a thermoelectric figure of merit ZT greater than unity, it is an exacting challenge to develop flexible materials with ZT near unity. Here, a scalable screen‐printing method to fabricate high‐performance and flexible thermoelectric devices is reported. A tellurium‐based nanosolder approach is employed to bridge the interfaces between the BiSbTe particles during the postprinting sintering process. The printed BiSbTe flexible films demonstrate an ultrahigh room‐temperature power factor of 3 mW m−1 K−2 and ZT about 1, significantly higher than the best reported values for flexible films. A fully printed thermoelectric generator produces a high power density of 18.8 mW cm−2 achievable with a small temperature gradient of 80 °C. This screen‐printing method, which directly transforms thermoelectric nanoparticles into high‐performance and flexible devices, presents a significant leap to make thermoelectrics a commercially viable technology for a broad range of energy harvesting and cooling applications

All-Printed MXene–Graphene Nanosheet-Based Bimodal Sensors for Simultaneous Strain and Temperature Sensing

Multifunctional sensors with integrated multiple sensing capabilities have enormous potential for in situ sensing, structural health monitoring, and wearable applications. However, the fabrication of multimodal sensors typically involves complex processing steps, which limit the choices of materials and device form factors. Here, an aerosol jet printed flexible bimodal sensor is demonstrated by using graphene and Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoinks. The sensor can detect strain by measuring a change in the AC resistive voltage while simultaneously monitoring temperature by detecting the DC Seebeck voltage across the same printed device pattern. The printed bimodal sensor not only expands the sensing capability beyond conventional single-modality sensors but also provides improved spatial resolution utilizing the microscale printed patterns. The printed temperature sensor shows a competitive thermopower output of 53.6 μV/°C with ultrahigh accuracy and stability during both steady-state and transient thermal cycling tests. The printed sensor also demonstrates excellent flexibility with negligible degradations after 1000 bending cycles. The aerosol jet printing and integration of nanomaterials open many opportunities to design and manufacture multifunctional devices for a broad range of applications

Thermoelectric Power Generation in the Core of a Nuclear Reactor

Thermoelectric energy converters offer a promising solution to generate electrical power using heat in the nuclear reactor core. Despite significant improvements in thermoelectric efficiency of nanostructured materials, the performance of these advanced materials has yet to be demonstrated in the harsh radiation environment of a reactor core. Herein, we demonstrate a thermoelectric generator (TEG) made from nanostructured bulk half-Heusler (HH) materials generating stable electrical power density \u3e 1140 W/m2 after 30 days in the MIT Nuclear Research Reactor under an unprecedented fast-neutron ( \u3e 1 MeV) fluence of 1.5 × 1020 n/cm2. Despite an initial degradation due to irradiation damage when operating under relatively low temperatures, our TEG showed a 20-fold increase in power output when operating under high temperature due to in-situ annealing and resulting thermoelectric property recovery. First-principles modeling indicates that a chemically disordered metallic phase was formed under irradiation at lower temperatures, resulting in a drastic degradation in thermoelectric properties, while at sufficiently high temperatures the system returned to the initial chemically ordered HH phase and the thermoelectric properties recovered. Transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction demonstrated that the chemically disordered phase was formed upon ion irradiation, confirming the prediction from first-principles simulations. The results suggest that with proper control over the TEG operating temperatures, the nanostructured bulk TEGs could produce stable electrical power and operate indefinitely in the core of a nuclear reactor