Dr Leila Momenzadeh

In this overview, we summarize the phenomenon of thermotransport (the close coupling of mass transport and heat transport) in two fast ion conductors: yttria-doped zirconia and gadolinia-doped ceria. We focus on two recent molecular dynamics calculations using the Green-Kubo formalism. We show that the Onsager thermotransport cross coefficient (mass-heat coupling) is negative, meaning that oxygen ions would drift, in principle, to the hot side in a temperature gradient. Simulation results presented in this overview show reasonable agreement with available experimental data for thermal conductivity. Results of this study suggest that the coupling between mass and heat transport in oxygen ion electrolytes could have significant effect for practical applications.

This study focuses on a number of transport phenomena in yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). A molecular dynamics simulation based on the Green-Kubo formalism is applied to calculate the lattice thermal conductivity, oxygen diffusion coefficient, ionic conductivity and thermotransport at different concentrations (i.e., 4, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 20 mol% of Y2O3) over a temperature range from 700 K to 1500 K. The results show that the YSZ has a low thermal conductivity in comparison with pure zirconia. The oxygen tracer diffusion coefficient, as calculated from the mean square displacements, and also the ionic conductivity show an activation energy of 0.85eV. The Onsager cross coefficient associated with thermotransport is negative, meaning that the drift of anions in a temperature gradient would be from a cold region to a hot region. All of the simulation results presented show reasonable agreement with available experimental data.

One of the most technologically beneficial engineering ceramics is yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ). As a result, research interest about YSZ has been intensive for many years. In this study, the lattice thermal conductivity and oxygen diffusion coefficient of YSZ are investigated at different temperatures (from 700 K to 1300 K) and zero pressure with the Green-Kubo formalism. We find that the lattice thermal conductivity decreases as the temperature increases, particularly at low temperatures and it shows a slightly temperature independence at high temperatures. The results demonstrate that the YSZ has quite a low thermal conductivity compared with pure zirconia. We also show that the oxygen tracer diffusion coefficient, as calculated from the mean square displacements, has an activation energy of 0.85eV.

The recently introduced analytical model for the heat current autocorrelation function of a crystal with a monatomic lattice [Evteev et al., Phil. Mag. 94 (2014) p. 731 and 94 (2014) p. 3992] is employed in conjunction with the Green¿Kubo formalism to investigate in detail the results of an equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations of the temperature dependence of the lattice thermal conductivity and phonon dynamics in f.c.c. Ni. Only the contribution to the lattice thermal conductivity determined by the phonon¿phonon scattering processes is considered, while the contribution due to phonon¿electron scattering processes is intentionally ignored. Nonetheless, during comparison of our data with experiment an estimation of the second contribution is made. Furthermore, by comparing the results obtained for f.c.c. Ni model to those for other models of elemental crystals with the f.c.c. lattice, we give an estimation of the scaling relations of the lattice thermal conductivity with other lattice properties such as the coefficient of thermal expansion and the bulk modulus. Moreover, within the framework of linear response theory and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we extend our analysis in this paper into the frequency domain to predict the power spectra of equilibrium fluctuations associated with the phonon-mediated heat dissipation in a monatomic lattice. The practical importance of the analytical treatment lies in the fact that it has the potential to be used in the future to efficiently decode the generic information on the lattice thermal conductivity and phonon dynamics from a power spectrum of the acoustic excitations in a monatomic crystal measured by a spectroscopic technique in the frequency range of about 1¿20¿THz.

The vibrational contribution to the thermal transport properties of liquid Cu is investigated in detail in the temperature range 1300-1800 K. The calculations are performed in the framework of equilibrium molecular dynamics making use of the Green-Kubo formalism and one of the most reliable embedded-atom method potentials for Cu. It is found that the temporal decay of the heat current autocorrelation function of the liquid Cu model can be described by a single exponential function, which is characterized in the studied temperature range by a constant value of the heat flux relaxation time of about 0.059 ps. The vibrational thermal conductivity of the liquid Cu model slightly decreases with temperature from about 1.1 W/(mK) at 1300 K to about 1 W/(mK) at 1800 K. Near the melting temperature it is about 30% lower than the vibrational thermal conductivity of the f.c.c Cu model. The calculated thermal diffusivity of the liquid Cu model is demonstrated to retain a constant value of about 2.7 × 10-7 m2/s in the studied temperature range, which is about two orders of magnitude higher than the atomic diffusivity in the model at the melting temperature. The vibrational contribution to the total thermal conductivity of liquid Cu is found to slightly decrease with temperature, being estimated as about 0.7-0.5% in the temperature range of 1400-1800 K. Furthermore, the applicability of some simple theoretical treatments of vibrational thermal transport in liquid Cu is discussed.

The phonon-mediated thermal conductivity of f.c.c. Cu is investigated in detail in the temperature range 40-1300 K. The calculations are performed in the framework of equilibrium molecular dynamics making use of the Green-Kubo formalism and one of the most reliable embedded-atom method potentials for Cu. It is found that the temporal decay of the heat current autocorrelation function (HCACF) of the Cu model at low and intermediate temperatures demonstrate a more complex behaviour than the two-stage decay observed previously for the f.c.c. Ar model. After the first stage of decay, it demonstrates a peak in the temperature range 40-800 K. A decomposition model of the HCACF is introduced. In the framework of that model we demonstrate that a classical description of the phonon thermal transport in the Cu model can be used down to around one quarter of the Debye temperature (about 90 K). Also, we find that above 300 K the thermal conductivity of the Cu model varies with temperature more rapidly than, following an exponent close to -1.4 in agreement with previous calculations on the Ar model. Phonon thermal conductivity of Cu is found to be about one order of magnitude higher than Ar. The phonon contribution to the total thermal conductivity of Cu can be estimated to be about 0.5% at 1300 K and about 10% at 90 K. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

An analytical treatment of decomposition of the phonon thermal conductivity of a crystal with a monatomic unit cell is developed on the basis of a two-stage decay of the heat current autocorrelation function observed in molecular dynamics simulations. It is demonstrated that the contributions from the acoustic short-and long-range phonon modes to the total phonon thermal conductivity can be presented in the form of simple kinetic formulas, consisting of products of the heat capacity and the average relaxation time of the considered phonon modes as well as the square of the average phonon velocity. On the basis of molecular dynamics calculations of the heat current autocorrelation function, this treatment allows for a self-consistent numerical evaluation of the aforementioned variables. In addition, the presented analysis allows, within the Debye approximation, for the identification of the temperature range where classical molecular dynamics simulations can be employed for the prediction of phonon thermal transport properties. As a case example, Cu is considered.