Effects of electric field on interfacial heat transfer in an electrolyte copper-water system

W Situ and HA Zambrano and JH Walther, APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING, 279, 127477 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.127477

Optimizing thermal transport at nanoscale interfaces represents a critical challenge for advancing next-generation nano energy technologies, including nanogenerators, thermoelectric devices, and nanoelectronic systems. The externally applied electric fields have emerged as a promising strategy for enhancing interfacial heat transfer, particularly in aqueous systems containing ionic species that are ubiquitous in engineering applications. We investigate the Kapitza resistance and the phonon transport at copper-electrolyte interfaces through non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations, focusing on dilute sodium chloride solutions under varying apparent ion concentrations (0-5 molL(-1)) and electric field intensities (0-10 Vnm(-1)). The simulation results demonstrate a significant electric field dependence of Kapitza resistance, with maximum reduction reaching 78.4%. Furthermore, the dependence of Kapitza resistance on apparent ion concentrations indicates that low-intensity electric fields (<4 Vnm(-1)) achieve up to 31.0% in Kapitza resistance, while this value is 9.8% at high-intensity electric fields (>4 Vnm(-1)). It suggests that the dominant role of ion hydration effects in interfacial heat transfer is weakened with increasing electric field intensity. Moreover, under low electric field intensity, Kapitza resistance is reduced up to 30.7% in cooling interfacial regions compared to heat zones, indicating a strong temperature dependence. These findings provide unique insights for broad applications of nanoscale thermal management technologies in energy devices.

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