Enhancing the interfacial thermal conductance of Si/PVDF by strengthening atomic couplings

Thermal transport across inorganic/organic interfaces attracts interest from both academia and industry due to their wide applications in flexible electronics, etc . Here, the interfacial thermal conductance of inorganic/organic interfaces consisting of silicon and polyvinylidene fluoride is systematically investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Interestingly, it is demonstrated that a modified silicon surface with hydroxyl groups can drastically enhance the conductance by 698%. These results are elucidated based on interfacial couplings and lattice dynamics insights. This study not only provides feasible strategies to effectively modulate the interfacial thermal conductance of inorganic/organic interfaces but also deepens the understanding of the fundamental physics underlying phonon transport across interfaces. Through the modification of the Si surface with hydroxyl groups, the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) of the Si/PVDF interface can be significantly enhanced by up to 698%, owing to the strengthening of atomic couplings.