Triggering wave-domain heat conduction in graphene

• Mechanical wave can be triggered by high heat fluxes in strained graphene.
• The mechanical wave provides an additional channel of heat transport.
• The energy transported by the wave increases with the increasing heat flux.
• The wave is a dissipative structure but not artifacts of velocity-exchange method.

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we systematically investigate the non-Fourier heat conduction in graphene under steady high heat flux. The results show that if two triggering factors, i.e. steady high heat flux and tensile stress, are satisfied simultaneously, a low-frequency mechanical wave and corresponding wave-like energy profile can be observed, which are distinctly different from ripples and linear temperature profile of the normal Fourier heat conduction. This mechanical wave provides an additional channel of heat transport and renders graphene more conductive without changing its pristine thermal conductivity. What's more, as the heat flux or original bond length increases, its frequency increases and energy transported by this mechanical wave is also on the rise. Further analyses show that such anomalous phenomenon is not arising from the high-energy or high-frequency pulses and also not artifacts of the velocity-exchange method. It is a dissipative structure, a new order state far from thermodynamic equilibrium, and the corresponding nonlinear relationship between the gradient of the wave-like kinetic temperature and the heat flux enables more efficient heat transport in graphene.