Transport modeling of simple fluids and nano-colloids : thermal conduction mechanisms and coarse projection

In the first part of this thesis, the modes of microscopic energy fluctuations governing heat flow in nano-colloids are quantitatively assessed by combining linear response theory with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The intrinsic thermal conductivity is decomposed into self and cross correlations of the three modes that make up the microscopic heat flux vector, namely, the kinetic, the potential and the virial. By this decomposition analysis, the interplay between the molecular mechanisms that govern the variation of the thermal conductivity with volume fraction and solid-fluid interaction is examined. For a specific system of nanosized platinum clusters which interact strongly with host liquid xenon, a significant thermal conductivity enhancement is obtained as a result of self correlation in the potential energy flux. The effect saturates at higher volume fractions due to the cross-mode correlation between the potential and the virial flux. A strong solid-fluid coupling also introduces an amorphous-like structural transition and a pronounced cage effect that significantly reduces the self diffusion of the nano-clusters. These attendant structural and diffusive effects, unlike the self correlation of the potential flux, are amenable to experimental observations. The cluster-fluid interface is characterized by large fluctuations in the potential energy which is indicative of an unusual exchange of potential energy among the interfacial fluid atoms. For small nano-clusters, the interfacial layers interact with each other to form a percolating network. The research findings highlight the importance of surface interactions and show that the interfacial thermal resistance emanating from the self correlation of the collision flux is not the limiting mechanism for heat transfer in nano-colloids.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Eapen, Jacob, 1968-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sidney Yip.

• Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41289

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/41289