Macroscale Thermal diode-like black box with High Transient Rectification Ratio
Abstract
Based on the transformation thermotics theory, many novel thermal functionalities have been achieved, such as thermal cloaking, concentrating, camouflaging, etc. Here, we propose a kind of macroscale thermal diode based on two typical outcomes of transformation thermotics – the energy shielding and harvesting units. The proposed macroscale thermal diode creates a new record of transient thermal rectification ratio that can be as high as about 50, far breaking the highest record of 2.6 in the literature. Most existing thermal diodes are in the steady state realm, which, however, is not a necessary requirement. The enlightenment here lies in the recapture of the transient behaviors of thermal diode, which is more practical and promising in the thermal computation applications as it is time-consuming to wait for thermal equilibrium. The proposed macroscale thermal diode is believed to promote the implementation of thermal rectifier-related applications, like thermal diode, thermal-logic operation, and phononics.
