The interplay between heat transfer and electric current drives energy conversion in diverse thermoelectric applications and results in a multitude of chemical functionality which can be harnessed to perform operations in molecular devices. In this talk, I will discuss recent theoretical work describing the coupled transport of heat and charge in networks of donor-acceptor sites which are seated in a thermally heterogeneous environment. In these networks, a temperature gradient between donor and acceptor gives rise to exotic transport phenomena which are absent in thermally homogeneous systems and cannot be described by standard thermoelectric relations. Application of the developed theory suggests that emergent relations connecting electrothermal and electronic currents can be utilized to control energy conversion between redox molecular motifs, at molecule-metal interfaces, and in molecular junctions. Specifically, I will show how both the extent of thermal transistor amplification and directionality of cyclical electronic currents in a given network can be controlled by tuning the underlying temperature gradient.<br/>

Electron transfer in thermally heterogeneous environments: A new paradigm for heat transport between molecules and at molecule-metal interfaces

254th National Meeting (2017)

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