Alternative nanostructures for thermophones.
Thermophones are highly promising for applications such as high-power SONAR arrays, flexible loudspeakers, and noise cancellation devices. So far, freestanding carbon nanotube aerogel sheets provide the most attractive performance as a thermoacoustic heat source. However, the limited accessibility of large-size freestanding carbon nanotube aerogel sheets and other even more exotic materials recently investigated hampers the field. We describe alternative materials for a thermoacoustic heat source with high-energy conversion efficiency, additional functionalities, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective production technologies. We discuss the thermoacoustic performance of alternative nanostructured materials and compare their spectral and power dependencies of sound pressure in air. We demonstrate that the heat capacity of aerogel-like nanostructures can be extracted by a thorough analysis of the sound pressure spectra. The study presented here focuses on engineering thermal gradients in the vicinity of nanostructures and subsequent heat dissipation processes from the interior of encapsulated thermoacoustic projectors. Applications of thermoacoustic projectors for high-power SONAR arrays, sound cancellation, and optimal thermal design, regarding enhanced energy conversion efficiency, are discussed.
†A.G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, United States.
Ali E
AE
Aliev
†A.G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, United States.
Nathanael K
NK
Mayo
†A.G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, United States.
Monica
M
Jung de Andrade
†A.G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, United States.
Raquel O
RO
Robles
†A.G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, United States.
Shaoli
S
Fang
†A.G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, United States.
Ray H
RH
Baughman
‡High-Performance Materials Institute, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States.
Mei
M
Zhang
§Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Yongsheng
Y
Chen
⊥Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, South Korea.
Jae Ah
JA
Lee
⊥Center for Bio-Artificial Muscle and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, South Korea.
Seon Jeong
SJ
Kim
carbon nanotubes; heat transfer; nanostructures; sound; thermoacoustics