Nanofire and scale effects of heat

Combustion is a chemical reaction that emits heat and light. Nanofire is a kind of flameless combustion that occurs on the micro–nano scale. Pt/Al(2)O(3) film with a thickness of 20 nm can be prepared as a catalyst by micro–nano processing. When the methanol-air mixture gas passes through the surface of the catalyst, a chemical reaction begins and a significant temperature rise occurs in the catalyst region. Compared to macroscopic combustion, Nanofire has many special properties, such as large temperature gradients, uniform temperature distribution, and fast temperature response. The large temperature gradient is the most important property of Nanofire, which can reach 1330 K/mm. Combined with thermoelectric materials, it can realize the efficient conversion of chemical energy to electric energy. Nanoscale thickness offers the possibility of establishing thermal gradient. On the other hand, large thermal gradient has an effect on the transport properties of phonons and electrons in film materials. From these we can get the scale effects of heat. This article will provide an overview of the preparation, properties and applications of Nanofire, and then a comprehensive introduction to the thermal scale and thermal scale effects. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s40580-019-0175-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.