Physics CAMP Seminar
11:30 AM
12:30 PM
Physics CAMP Seminar
Nanoscale energy, charge and mass transport plays critical roles in various phenomena in nature and has important engineering implications. In this talk, I will discuss some new understandings we obtained in nanoscale transport and some engineering applications. For energy transport, I will present a few interesting observations on phonon transport through individual nanostructures and their contacts. More specifically, I will show how kinks could affect the thermal conductivity of boron carbide nanowires, which provides new insights into tuning thermal properties of nanowires. I will also introduce the intriguing diameter dependence of contact thermal conductance between individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes, which comes from complex interplay between phonons and boundaries. Moreover, I will demonstrate two separate specularity parameters at interfaces for transmitted and reflected phonons through measurements of single and double boron nanoribbons. Finally, I will discuss several interesting observations of thermal transport through quasi-1D van der Waals crystal NbSe3 nanowires together with the underlying mechanisms governing these phenomena. In terms of charge and mass transport, I will present a new approach taking advantage of the superior electronic transport properties of graphene to probe the electrical activities of individual dendritic spines and synapses of central nervous system neurons cultured in microfluidic platforms.