Adhesion and stress-enhanced elastocaloric effect in graphene

Given its extraordinary properties, graphene has continued to attract significant attention since it was discovered. A recent study(Lisenkov, Nano Lett, 2016) revealed that graphene has a remarkable elastocaloric effect(ECE), which makes it a promising cooling material in nanoscale cooling systems. Here using molecular dynamics simulations we demonstrate that the elastocaloric effect of graphene layers can be significantly enhanced by adhesion and the application of lateral strain, i.e., orthogonal to the loading direction. The elastocaloric coefficient of graphene can be changed from 0 to 0.1 K/GPa when the graphene layer is adhered to a substrate or with the application of a small lateral strain. With such a remarkable feature, graphene could have a number of promising applications in cooling devices based on the caloric effect, and this study was conducted to understand the ECE in graphene better.