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28
29 \begin{document}
30
31 \title{ENTER TITLE HERE}
32
33 \author{Shenyu Kuang and J. Daniel
34 Gezelter\footnote{Corresponding author. \ Electronic mail: gezelter@nd.edu} \\
35 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,\\
36 University of Notre Dame\\
37 Notre Dame, Indiana 46556}
38
39 \date{\today}
40
41 \maketitle
42
43 \begin{doublespace}
44
45 \begin{abstract}
46 REPLACE ABSTRACT HERE
47 With the Non-Isotropic Velocity Scaling (NIVS) approach to Reverse
48 Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (RNEMD) it is possible to impose
49 an unphysical thermal flux between different regions of
50 inhomogeneous systems such as solid / liquid interfaces. We have
51 applied NIVS to compute the interfacial thermal conductance at a
52 metal / organic solvent interface that has been chemically capped by
53 butanethiol molecules. Our calculations suggest that coupling
54 between the metal and liquid phases is enhanced by the capping
55 agents, leading to a greatly enhanced conductivity at the interface.
56 Specifically, the chemical bond between the metal and the capping
57 agent introduces a vibrational overlap that is not present without
58 the capping agent, and the overlap between the vibrational spectra
59 (metal to cap, cap to solvent) provides a mechanism for rapid
60 thermal transport across the interface. Our calculations also
61 suggest that this is a non-monotonic function of the fractional
62 coverage of the surface, as moderate coverages allow diffusive heat
63 transport of solvent molecules that have been in close contact with
64 the capping agent.
65
66 \end{abstract}
67
68 \newpage
69
70 %\narrowtext
71
72 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
73 % BODY OF TEXT
74 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
75
76 \section{Introduction}
77 [DO THIS LATER]
78
79 [IMPORTANCE OF NANOSCALE TRANSPORT PROPERTIES STUDIES]
80
81 Due to the importance of heat flow (and heat removal) in
82 nanotechnology, interfacial thermal conductance has been studied
83 extensively both experimentally and computationally.\cite{cahill:793}
84 Nanoscale materials have a significant fraction of their atoms at
85 interfaces, and the chemical details of these interfaces govern the
86 thermal transport properties. Furthermore, the interfaces are often
87 heterogeneous (e.g. solid - liquid), which provides a challenge to
88 computational methods which have been developed for homogeneous or
89 bulk systems.
90
91 Experimentally, the thermal properties of a number of interfaces have
92 been investigated. Cahill and coworkers studied nanoscale thermal
93 transport from metal nanoparticle/fluid interfaces, to epitaxial
94 TiN/single crystal oxides interfaces, and hydrophilic and hydrophobic
95 interfaces between water and solids with different self-assembled
96 monolayers.\cite{Wilson:2002uq,PhysRevB.67.054302,doi:10.1021/jp048375k,PhysRevLett.96.186101}
97 Wang {\it et al.} studied heat transport through long-chain
98 hydrocarbon monolayers on gold substrate at individual molecular
99 level,\cite{Wang10082007} Schmidt {\it et al.} studied the role of
100 cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on the thermal transport between
101 gold nanorods and solvent,\cite{doi:10.1021/jp8051888} and Juv\'e {\it
102 et al.} studied the cooling dynamics, which is controlled by thermal
103 interface resistance of glass-embedded metal
104 nanoparticles.\cite{PhysRevB.80.195406} Although interfaces are
105 normally considered barriers for heat transport, Alper {\it et al.}
106 suggested that specific ligands (capping agents) could completely
107 eliminate this barrier
108 ($G\rightarrow\infty$).\cite{doi:10.1021/la904855s}
109
110 The acoustic mismatch model for interfacial conductance utilizes the
111 acoustic impedance ($Z_a = \rho_a v^s_a$) on both sides of the
112 interface.\cite{swartz1989} Here, $\rho_a$ and $v^s_a$ are the density
113 and speed of sound in material $a$. The phonon transmission
114 probability at the $a-b$ interface is
115 \begin{equation}
116 t_{ab} = \frac{4 Z_a Z_b}{\left(Z_a + Z_b \right)^2},
117 \end{equation}
118 and the interfacial conductance can then be approximated as
119 \begin{equation}
120 G_{ab} \approx \frac{1}{4} C_D v_D t_{ab}
121 \end{equation}
122 where $C_D$ is the Debye heat capacity of the hot side, and $v_D$ is
123 the Debye phonon velocity ($1/v_D^3 = 1/3v_L^3 + 2/3 v_T^3$) where
124 $v_L$ and $v_T$ are the longitudinal and transverse speeds of sound,
125 respectively. For the Au/hexane and Au/toluene interfaces, the
126 acoustic mismatch model predicts room-temperature $G \approx 87 \mbox{
127 and } 129$ MW m$^{-2}$ K$^{-1}$, respectively. However, it is not
128 clear how to apply the acoustic mismatch model to a
129 chemically-modified surface, particularly when the acoustic properties
130 of a monolayer film may not be well characterized.
131
132 [PREVIOUS METHODS INCLUDING NIVS AND THEIR LIMITATIONS]
133 [DIFFICULTY TO GENERATE JZKE AND JZP SIMUTANEOUSLY]
134
135 More precise computational models have also been used to study the
136 interfacial thermal transport in order to gain an understanding of
137 this phenomena at the molecular level. Recently, Hase and coworkers
138 employed Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (NEMD) simulations to
139 study thermal transport from hot Au(111) substrate to a self-assembled
140 monolayer of alkylthiol with relatively long chain (8-20 carbon
141 atoms).\cite{hase:2010,hase:2011} However, ensemble averaged
142 measurements for heat conductance of interfaces between the capping
143 monolayer on Au and a solvent phase have yet to be studied with their
144 approach. The comparatively low thermal flux through interfaces is
145 difficult to measure with Equilibrium
146 MD\cite{doi:10.1080/0026897031000068578} or forward NEMD simulation
147 methods. Therefore, the Reverse NEMD (RNEMD)
148 methods\cite{MullerPlathe:1997xw,kuang:164101} would be advantageous
149 in that they {\it apply} the difficult to measure quantity (flux),
150 while {\it measuring} the easily-computed quantity (the thermal
151 gradient). This is particularly true for inhomogeneous interfaces
152 where it would not be clear how to apply a gradient {\it a priori}.
153 Garde and coworkers\cite{garde:nl2005,garde:PhysRevLett2009} applied
154 this approach to various liquid interfaces and studied how thermal
155 conductance (or resistance) is dependent on chemical details of a
156 number of hydrophobic and hydrophilic aqueous interfaces. And
157 recently, Luo {\it et al.} studied the thermal conductance of
158 Au-SAM-Au junctions using the same approach, comparing to a constant
159 temperature difference method.\cite{Luo20101} While this latter
160 approach establishes more ideal Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions than
161 previous RNEMD methods, it does not guarantee momentum or kinetic
162 energy conservation.
163
164 Recently, we have developed a Non-Isotropic Velocity Scaling (NIVS)
165 algorithm for RNEMD simulations\cite{kuang:164101}. This algorithm
166 retains the desirable features of RNEMD (conservation of linear
167 momentum and total energy, compatibility with periodic boundary
168 conditions) while establishing true thermal distributions in each of
169 the two slabs. Furthermore, it allows effective thermal exchange
170 between particles of different identities, and thus makes the study of
171 interfacial conductance much simpler.
172
173 [WHAT IS COVERED IN THIS MANUSCRIPT]
174 [MAY PUT FIGURE 1 HERE]
175 The work presented here deals with the Au(111) surface covered to
176 varying degrees by butanethiol, a capping agent with short carbon
177 chain, and solvated with organic solvents of different molecular
178 properties. Different models were used for both the capping agent and
179 the solvent force field parameters. Using the NIVS algorithm, the
180 thermal transport across these interfaces was studied and the
181 underlying mechanism for the phenomena was investigated.
182
183 \section{Methodology}
184 Similar to the NIVS methodology,\cite{kuang:164101} we consider a
185 periodic system divided into a series of slabs along a certain axis
186 (e.g. $z$). The unphysical thermal and/or momentum flux is designated
187 from the center slab to one of the end slabs, and thus the center slab
188 would have a lower temperature than the end slab (unless the thermal
189 flux is negative). Therefore, the center slab is denoted as ``$c$''
190 while the end slab as ``$h$''.
191
192 To impose these fluxes, we periodically apply separate operations to
193 velocities of particles {$i$} within the center slab and of particles
194 {$j$} within the end slab:
195 \begin{eqnarray}
196 \vec{v}_i & \leftarrow & c\cdot\left(\vec{v}_i - \langle\vec{v}_c
197 \rangle\right) + \left(\langle\vec{v}_c\rangle + \vec{a}_c\right) \\
198 \vec{v}_j & \leftarrow & h\cdot\left(\vec{v}_j - \langle\vec{v}_h
199 \rangle\right) + \left(\langle\vec{v}_h\rangle + \vec{a}_h\right)
200 \end{eqnarray}
201 where $\langle\vec{v}_c\rangle$ and $\langle\vec{v}_h\rangle$ denotes
202 the instantaneous bulk velocity of slabs $c$ and $h$ respectively
203 before an operation occurs. When a momentum flux $\vec{j}_z(\vec{p})$
204 presents, these bulk velocities would have a corresponding change
205 ($\vec{a}_c$ and $\vec{a}_h$ respectively) according to Newton's
206 second law:
207 \begin{eqnarray}
208 M_c \vec{a}_c & = & -\vec{j}_z(\vec{p}) \Delta t \\
209 M_h \vec{a}_h & = & \vec{j}_z(\vec{p}) \Delta t
210 \end{eqnarray}
211 where
212 \begin{eqnarray}
213 M_c & = & \sum_{i = 1}^{N_c} m_i \\
214 M_h & = & \sum_{j = 1}^{N_h} m_j
215 \end{eqnarray}
216 and $\Delta t$ is the interval between two operations.
217
218 The above operations conserve the linear momentum of a periodic
219 system. To satisfy total energy conservation as well as to impose a
220 thermal flux $J_z$, one would have
221 %SUPPORT INFO MIGHT BE NECESSARY TO PUT EXTRA MATH IN
222 \begin{eqnarray}
223 K_c - J_z\Delta t & = & c^2 (K_c - \frac{1}{2}M_c \langle\vec{v}_c
224 \rangle^2) + \frac{1}{2}M_c (\langle \vec{v}_c \rangle + \vec{a}_c)^2 \\
225 K_h + J_z\Delta t & = & h^2 (K_h - \frac{1}{2}M_h \langle\vec{v}_h
226 \rangle^2) + \frac{1}{2}M_h (\langle \vec{v}_h \rangle + \vec{a}_h)^2
227 \end{eqnarray}
228 where $K_c$ and $K_h$ denotes translational kinetic energy of slabs
229 $c$ and $h$ respectively before an operation occurs. These
230 translational kinetic energy conservation equations are sufficient to
231 ensure total energy conservation, as the operations applied do not
232 change the potential energy of a system, given that the potential
233 energy does not depend on particle velocity.
234
235 The above sets of equations are sufficient to determine the velocity
236 scaling coefficients ($c$ and $h$) as well as $\vec{a}_c$ and
237 $\vec{a}_h$. Note that two roots of $c$ and $h$ exist
238 respectively. However, to avoid dramatic perturbations to a system,
239 the positive roots (which are closer to 1) are chosen.
240
241 By implementing these operations at a certain frequency, a steady
242 thermal and/or momentum flux can be applied and the corresponding
243 temperature and/or momentum gradients can be established.
244 [REFER TO NIVS PAPER]
245 [ADVANTAGES]
246
247 Steady state MD simulations have an advantage in that not many
248 trajectories are needed to study the relationship between thermal flux
249 and thermal gradients. For systems with low interfacial conductance,
250 one must have a method capable of generating or measuring relatively
251 small fluxes, compared to those required for bulk conductivity. This
252 requirement makes the calculation even more difficult for
253 slowly-converging equilibrium methods.\cite{Viscardy:2007lq} Forward
254 NEMD methods impose a gradient (and measure a flux), but at interfaces
255 it is not clear what behavior should be imposed at the boundaries
256 between materials. Imposed-flux reverse non-equilibrium
257 methods\cite{MullerPlathe:1997xw} set the flux {\it a priori} and
258 the thermal response becomes an easy-to-measure quantity. Although
259 M\"{u}ller-Plathe's original momentum swapping approach can be used
260 for exchanging energy between particles of different identity, the
261 kinetic energy transfer efficiency is affected by the mass difference
262 between the particles, which limits its application on heterogeneous
263 interfacial systems.
264
265 The non-isotropic velocity scaling (NIVS) \cite{kuang:164101} approach
266 to non-equilibrium MD simulations is able to impose a wide range of
267 kinetic energy fluxes without obvious perturbation to the velocity
268 distributions of the simulated systems. Furthermore, this approach has
269 the advantage in heterogeneous interfaces in that kinetic energy flux
270 can be applied between regions of particles of arbitrary identity, and
271 the flux will not be restricted by difference in particle mass.
272
273 The NIVS algorithm scales the velocity vectors in two separate regions
274 of a simulation system with respective diagonal scaling matrices. To
275 determine these scaling factors in the matrices, a set of equations
276 including linear momentum conservation and kinetic energy conservation
277 constraints and target energy flux satisfaction is solved. With the
278 scaling operation applied to the system in a set frequency, bulk
279 temperature gradients can be easily established, and these can be used
280 for computing thermal conductivities. The NIVS algorithm conserves
281 momenta and energy and does not depend on an external thermostat.
282
283 \subsection{Defining Interfacial Thermal Conductivity ($G$)}
284
285 For an interface with relatively low interfacial conductance, and a
286 thermal flux between two distinct bulk regions, the regions on either
287 side of the interface rapidly come to a state in which the two phases
288 have relatively homogeneous (but distinct) temperatures. The
289 interfacial thermal conductivity $G$ can therefore be approximated as:
290 \begin{equation}
291 G = \frac{E_{total}}{2 t L_x L_y \left( \langle T_\mathrm{hot}\rangle -
292 \langle T_\mathrm{cold}\rangle \right)}
293 \label{lowG}
294 \end{equation}
295 where ${E_{total}}$ is the total imposed non-physical kinetic energy
296 transfer during the simulation and ${\langle T_\mathrm{hot}\rangle}$
297 and ${\langle T_\mathrm{cold}\rangle}$ are the average observed
298 temperature of the two separated phases. For an applied flux $J_z$
299 operating over a simulation time $t$ on a periodically-replicated slab
300 of dimensions $L_x \times L_y$, $E_{total} = 2 J_z t L_x L_y$.
301
302 When the interfacial conductance is {\it not} small, there are two
303 ways to define $G$. One common way is to assume the temperature is
304 discrete on the two sides of the interface. $G$ can be calculated
305 using the applied thermal flux $J$ and the maximum temperature
306 difference measured along the thermal gradient max($\Delta T$), which
307 occurs at the Gibbs dividing surface (Figure \ref{demoPic}). This is
308 known as the Kapitza conductance, which is the inverse of the Kapitza
309 resistance.
310 \begin{equation}
311 G=\frac{J}{\Delta T}
312 \label{discreteG}
313 \end{equation}
314
315 \begin{figure}
316 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{method}
317 \caption{Interfacial conductance can be calculated by applying an
318 (unphysical) kinetic energy flux between two slabs, one located
319 within the metal and another on the edge of the periodic box. The
320 system responds by forming a thermal gradient. In bulk liquids,
321 this gradient typically has a single slope, but in interfacial
322 systems, there are distinct thermal conductivity domains. The
323 interfacial conductance, $G$ is found by measuring the temperature
324 gap at the Gibbs dividing surface, or by using second derivatives of
325 the thermal profile.}
326 \label{demoPic}
327 \end{figure}
328
329 Another approach is to assume that the temperature is continuous and
330 differentiable throughout the space. Given that $\lambda$ is also
331 differentiable, $G$ can be defined as its gradient ($\nabla\lambda$)
332 projected along a vector normal to the interface ($\mathbf{\hat{n}}$)
333 and evaluated at the interface location ($z_0$). This quantity,
334 \begin{align}
335 G^\prime &= \left(\nabla\lambda \cdot \mathbf{\hat{n}}\right)_{z_0} \\
336 &= \frac{\partial}{\partial z}\left(-\frac{J_z}{
337 \left(\frac{\partial T}{\partial z}\right)}\right)_{z_0} \\
338 &= J_z\left(\frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial z^2}\right)_{z_0} \Big/
339 \left(\frac{\partial T}{\partial z}\right)_{z_0}^2 \label{derivativeG}
340 \end{align}
341 has the same units as the common definition for $G$, and the maximum
342 of its magnitude denotes where thermal conductivity has the largest
343 change, i.e. the interface. In the geometry used in this study, the
344 vector normal to the interface points along the $z$ axis, as do
345 $\vec{J}$ and the thermal gradient. This yields the simplified
346 expressions in Eq. \ref{derivativeG}.
347
348 With temperature profiles obtained from simulation, one is able to
349 approximate the first and second derivatives of $T$ with finite
350 difference methods and calculate $G^\prime$. In what follows, both
351 definitions have been used, and are compared in the results.
352
353 To investigate the interfacial conductivity at metal / solvent
354 interfaces, we have modeled a metal slab with its (111) surfaces
355 perpendicular to the $z$-axis of our simulation cells. The metal slab
356 has been prepared both with and without capping agents on the exposed
357 surface, and has been solvated with simple organic solvents, as
358 illustrated in Figure \ref{gradT}.
359
360 With the simulation cell described above, we are able to equilibrate
361 the system and impose an unphysical thermal flux between the liquid
362 and the metal phase using the NIVS algorithm. By periodically applying
363 the unphysical flux, we obtained a temperature profile and its spatial
364 derivatives. Figure \ref{gradT} shows how an applied thermal flux can
365 be used to obtain the 1st and 2nd derivatives of the temperature
366 profile.
367
368 \begin{figure}
369 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{gradT}
370 \caption{A sample of Au (111) / butanethiol / hexane interfacial
371 system with the temperature profile after a kinetic energy flux has
372 been imposed. Note that the largest temperature jump in the thermal
373 profile (corresponding to the lowest interfacial conductance) is at
374 the interface between the butanethiol molecules (blue) and the
375 solvent (grey). First and second derivatives of the temperature
376 profile are obtained using a finite difference approximation (lower
377 panel).}
378 \label{gradT}
379 \end{figure}
380
381 \section{Computational Details}
382 \subsection{Simulation Protocol}
383 The NIVS algorithm has been implemented in our MD simulation code,
384 OpenMD\cite{Meineke:2005gd,openmd}, and was used for our simulations.
385 Metal slabs of 6 or 11 layers of Au atoms were first equilibrated
386 under atmospheric pressure (1 atm) and 200K. After equilibration,
387 butanethiol capping agents were placed at three-fold hollow sites on
388 the Au(111) surfaces. These sites are either {\it fcc} or {\it
389 hcp} sites, although Hase {\it et al.} found that they are
390 equivalent in a heat transfer process,\cite{hase:2010} so we did not
391 distinguish between these sites in our study. The maximum butanethiol
392 capacity on Au surface is $1/3$ of the total number of surface Au
393 atoms, and the packing forms a $(\sqrt{3}\times\sqrt{3})R30^\circ$
394 structure\cite{doi:10.1021/ja00008a001,doi:10.1021/cr9801317}. A
395 series of lower coverages was also prepared by eliminating
396 butanethiols from the higher coverage surface in a regular manner. The
397 lower coverages were prepared in order to study the relation between
398 coverage and interfacial conductance.
399
400 The capping agent molecules were allowed to migrate during the
401 simulations. They distributed themselves uniformly and sampled a
402 number of three-fold sites throughout out study. Therefore, the
403 initial configuration does not noticeably affect the sampling of a
404 variety of configurations of the same coverage, and the final
405 conductance measurement would be an average effect of these
406 configurations explored in the simulations.
407
408 After the modified Au-butanethiol surface systems were equilibrated in
409 the canonical (NVT) ensemble, organic solvent molecules were packed in
410 the previously empty part of the simulation cells.\cite{packmol} Two
411 solvents were investigated, one which has little vibrational overlap
412 with the alkanethiol and which has a planar shape (toluene), and one
413 which has similar vibrational frequencies to the capping agent and
414 chain-like shape ({\it n}-hexane).
415
416 The simulation cells were not particularly extensive along the
417 $z$-axis, as a very long length scale for the thermal gradient may
418 cause excessively hot or cold temperatures in the middle of the
419 solvent region and lead to undesired phenomena such as solvent boiling
420 or freezing when a thermal flux is applied. Conversely, too few
421 solvent molecules would change the normal behavior of the liquid
422 phase. Therefore, our $N_{solvent}$ values were chosen to ensure that
423 these extreme cases did not happen to our simulations. The spacing
424 between periodic images of the gold interfaces is $45 \sim 75$\AA in
425 our simulations.
426
427 The initial configurations generated are further equilibrated with the
428 $x$ and $y$ dimensions fixed, only allowing the $z$-length scale to
429 change. This is to ensure that the equilibration of liquid phase does
430 not affect the metal's crystalline structure. Comparisons were made
431 with simulations that allowed changes of $L_x$ and $L_y$ during NPT
432 equilibration. No substantial changes in the box geometry were noticed
433 in these simulations. After ensuring the liquid phase reaches
434 equilibrium at atmospheric pressure (1 atm), further equilibration was
435 carried out under canonical (NVT) and microcanonical (NVE) ensembles.
436
437 After the systems reach equilibrium, NIVS was used to impose an
438 unphysical thermal flux between the metal and the liquid phases. Most
439 of our simulations were done under an average temperature of
440 $\sim$200K. Therefore, thermal flux usually came from the metal to the
441 liquid so that the liquid has a higher temperature and would not
442 freeze due to lowered temperatures. After this induced temperature
443 gradient had stabilized, the temperature profile of the simulation cell
444 was recorded. To do this, the simulation cell is divided evenly into
445 $N$ slabs along the $z$-axis. The average temperatures of each slab
446 are recorded for 1$\sim$2 ns. When the slab width $d$ of each slab is
447 the same, the derivatives of $T$ with respect to slab number $n$ can
448 be directly used for $G^\prime$ calculations: \begin{equation}
449 G^\prime = |J_z|\Big|\frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial z^2}\Big|
450 \Big/\left(\frac{\partial T}{\partial z}\right)^2
451 = |J_z|\Big|\frac{1}{d^2}\frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial n^2}\Big|
452 \Big/\left(\frac{1}{d}\frac{\partial T}{\partial n}\right)^2
453 = |J_z|\Big|\frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial n^2}\Big|
454 \Big/\left(\frac{\partial T}{\partial n}\right)^2
455 \label{derivativeG2}
456 \end{equation}
457 The absolute values in Eq. \ref{derivativeG2} appear because the
458 direction of the flux $\vec{J}$ is in an opposing direction on either
459 side of the metal slab.
460
461 All of the above simulation procedures use a time step of 1 fs. Each
462 equilibration stage took a minimum of 100 ps, although in some cases,
463 longer equilibration stages were utilized.
464
465 \subsection{Force Field Parameters}
466 Our simulations include a number of chemically distinct components.
467 Figure \ref{demoMol} demonstrates the sites defined for both
468 United-Atom and All-Atom models of the organic solvent and capping
469 agents in our simulations. Force field parameters are needed for
470 interactions both between the same type of particles and between
471 particles of different species.
472
473 \begin{figure}
474 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{structures}
475 \caption{Structures of the capping agent and solvents utilized in
476 these simulations. The chemically-distinct sites (a-e) are expanded
477 in terms of constituent atoms for both United Atom (UA) and All Atom
478 (AA) force fields. Most parameters are from References
479 \protect\cite{TraPPE-UA.alkanes,TraPPE-UA.alkylbenzenes,TraPPE-UA.thiols}
480 (UA) and \protect\cite{OPLSAA} (AA). Cross-interactions with the Au
481 atoms are given in Table 1 in the supporting information.}
482 \label{demoMol}
483 \end{figure}
484
485 The Au-Au interactions in metal lattice slab is described by the
486 quantum Sutton-Chen (QSC) formulation.\cite{PhysRevB.59.3527} The QSC
487 potentials include zero-point quantum corrections and are
488 reparametrized for accurate surface energies compared to the
489 Sutton-Chen potentials.\cite{Chen90}
490
491 For the two solvent molecules, {\it n}-hexane and toluene, two
492 different atomistic models were utilized. Both solvents were modeled
493 using United-Atom (UA) and All-Atom (AA) models. The TraPPE-UA
494 parameters\cite{TraPPE-UA.alkanes,TraPPE-UA.alkylbenzenes} are used
495 for our UA solvent molecules. In these models, sites are located at
496 the carbon centers for alkyl groups. Bonding interactions, including
497 bond stretches and bends and torsions, were used for intra-molecular
498 sites closer than 3 bonds. For non-bonded interactions, Lennard-Jones
499 potentials are used.
500
501 By eliminating explicit hydrogen atoms, the TraPPE-UA models are
502 simple and computationally efficient, while maintaining good accuracy.
503 However, the TraPPE-UA model for alkanes is known to predict a slightly
504 lower boiling point than experimental values. This is one of the
505 reasons we used a lower average temperature (200K) for our
506 simulations. If heat is transferred to the liquid phase during the
507 NIVS simulation, the liquid in the hot slab can actually be
508 substantially warmer than the mean temperature in the simulation. The
509 lower mean temperatures therefore prevent solvent boiling.
510
511 For UA-toluene, the non-bonded potentials between intermolecular sites
512 have a similar Lennard-Jones formulation. The toluene molecules were
513 treated as a single rigid body, so there was no need for
514 intramolecular interactions (including bonds, bends, or torsions) in
515 this solvent model.
516
517 Besides the TraPPE-UA models, AA models for both organic solvents are
518 included in our studies as well. The OPLS-AA\cite{OPLSAA} force fields
519 were used. For hexane, additional explicit hydrogen sites were
520 included. Besides bonding and non-bonded site-site interactions,
521 partial charges and the electrostatic interactions were added to each
522 CT and HC site. For toluene, a flexible model for the toluene molecule
523 was utilized which included bond, bend, torsion, and inversion
524 potentials to enforce ring planarity.
525
526 The butanethiol capping agent in our simulations, were also modeled
527 with both UA and AA model. The TraPPE-UA force field includes
528 parameters for thiol molecules\cite{TraPPE-UA.thiols} and are used for
529 UA butanethiol model in our simulations. The OPLS-AA also provides
530 parameters for alkyl thiols. However, alkyl thiols adsorbed on Au(111)
531 surfaces do not have the hydrogen atom bonded to sulfur. To derive
532 suitable parameters for butanethiol adsorbed on Au(111) surfaces, we
533 adopt the S parameters from Luedtke and Landman\cite{landman:1998} and
534 modify the parameters for the CTS atom to maintain charge neutrality
535 in the molecule. Note that the model choice (UA or AA) for the capping
536 agent can be different from the solvent. Regardless of model choice,
537 the force field parameters for interactions between capping agent and
538 solvent can be derived using Lorentz-Berthelot Mixing Rule:
539 \begin{eqnarray}
540 \sigma_{ij} & = & \frac{1}{2} \left(\sigma_{ii} + \sigma_{jj}\right) \\
541 \epsilon_{ij} & = & \sqrt{\epsilon_{ii}\epsilon_{jj}}
542 \end{eqnarray}
543
544 To describe the interactions between metal (Au) and non-metal atoms,
545 we refer to an adsorption study of alkyl thiols on gold surfaces by
546 Vlugt {\it et al.}\cite{vlugt:cpc2007154} They fitted an effective
547 Lennard-Jones form of potential parameters for the interaction between
548 Au and pseudo-atoms CH$_x$ and S based on a well-established and
549 widely-used effective potential of Hautman and Klein for the Au(111)
550 surface.\cite{hautman:4994} As our simulations require the gold slab
551 to be flexible to accommodate thermal excitation, the pair-wise form
552 of potentials they developed was used for our study.
553
554 The potentials developed from {\it ab initio} calculations by Leng
555 {\it et al.}\cite{doi:10.1021/jp034405s} are adopted for the
556 interactions between Au and aromatic C/H atoms in toluene. However,
557 the Lennard-Jones parameters between Au and other types of particles,
558 (e.g. AA alkanes) have not yet been established. For these
559 interactions, the Lorentz-Berthelot mixing rule can be used to derive
560 effective single-atom LJ parameters for the metal using the fit values
561 for toluene. These are then used to construct reasonable mixing
562 parameters for the interactions between the gold and other atoms.
563 Table 1 in the supporting information summarizes the
564 ``metal/non-metal'' parameters utilized in our simulations.
565
566 \section{Results}
567 [L-J COMPARED TO RENMD NIVS; WATER COMPARED TO RNEMD NIVS;
568 SLIP BOUNDARY VS STICK BOUNDARY; ICE-WATER INTERFACES]
569
570 There are many factors contributing to the measured interfacial
571 conductance; some of these factors are physically motivated
572 (e.g. coverage of the surface by the capping agent coverage and
573 solvent identity), while some are governed by parameters of the
574 methodology (e.g. applied flux and the formulas used to obtain the
575 conductance). In this section we discuss the major physical and
576 calculational effects on the computed conductivity.
577
578 \subsection{Effects due to capping agent coverage}
579
580 A series of different initial conditions with a range of surface
581 coverages was prepared and solvated with various with both of the
582 solvent molecules. These systems were then equilibrated and their
583 interfacial thermal conductivity was measured with the NIVS
584 algorithm. Figure \ref{coverage} demonstrates the trend of conductance
585 with respect to surface coverage.
586
587 \begin{figure}
588 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{coverage}
589 \caption{The interfacial thermal conductivity ($G$) has a
590 non-monotonic dependence on the degree of surface capping. This
591 data is for the Au(111) / butanethiol / solvent interface with
592 various UA force fields at $\langle T\rangle \sim $200K.}
593 \label{coverage}
594 \end{figure}
595
596 In partially covered surfaces, the derivative definition for
597 $G^\prime$ (Eq. \ref{derivativeG}) becomes difficult to apply, as the
598 location of maximum change of $\lambda$ becomes washed out. The
599 discrete definition (Eq. \ref{discreteG}) is easier to apply, as the
600 Gibbs dividing surface is still well-defined. Therefore, $G$ (not
601 $G^\prime$) was used in this section.
602
603 From Figure \ref{coverage}, one can see the significance of the
604 presence of capping agents. When even a small fraction of the Au(111)
605 surface sites are covered with butanethiols, the conductivity exhibits
606 an enhancement by at least a factor of 3. Capping agents are clearly
607 playing a major role in thermal transport at metal / organic solvent
608 surfaces.
609
610 We note a non-monotonic behavior in the interfacial conductance as a
611 function of surface coverage. The maximum conductance (largest $G$)
612 happens when the surfaces are about 75\% covered with butanethiol
613 caps. The reason for this behavior is not entirely clear. One
614 explanation is that incomplete butanethiol coverage allows small gaps
615 between butanethiols to form. These gaps can be filled by transient
616 solvent molecules. These solvent molecules couple very strongly with
617 the hot capping agent molecules near the surface, and can then carry
618 away (diffusively) the excess thermal energy from the surface.
619
620 There appears to be a competition between the conduction of the
621 thermal energy away from the surface by the capping agents (enhanced
622 by greater coverage) and the coupling of the capping agents with the
623 solvent (enhanced by interdigitation at lower coverages). This
624 competition would lead to the non-monotonic coverage behavior observed
625 here.
626
627 Results for rigid body toluene solvent, as well as the UA hexane, are
628 within the ranges expected from prior experimental
629 work.\cite{Wilson:2002uq,cahill:793,PhysRevB.80.195406} This suggests
630 that explicit hydrogen atoms might not be required for modeling
631 thermal transport in these systems. C-H vibrational modes do not see
632 significant excited state population at low temperatures, and are not
633 likely to carry lower frequency excitations from the solid layer into
634 the bulk liquid.
635
636 The toluene solvent does not exhibit the same behavior as hexane in
637 that $G$ remains at approximately the same magnitude when the capping
638 coverage increases from 25\% to 75\%. Toluene, as a rigid planar
639 molecule, cannot occupy the relatively small gaps between the capping
640 agents as easily as the chain-like {\it n}-hexane. The effect of
641 solvent coupling to the capping agent is therefore weaker in toluene
642 except at the very lowest coverage levels. This effect counters the
643 coverage-dependent conduction of heat away from the metal surface,
644 leading to a much flatter $G$ vs. coverage trend than is observed in
645 {\it n}-hexane.
646
647 \subsection{Effects due to Solvent \& Solvent Models}
648 In addition to UA solvent and capping agent models, AA models have
649 also been included in our simulations. In most of this work, the same
650 (UA or AA) model for solvent and capping agent was used, but it is
651 also possible to utilize different models for different components.
652 We have also included isotopic substitutions (Hydrogen to Deuterium)
653 to decrease the explicit vibrational overlap between solvent and
654 capping agent. Table \ref{modelTest} summarizes the results of these
655 studies.
656
657 \begin{table*}
658 \begin{minipage}{\linewidth}
659 \begin{center}
660
661 \caption{Computed interfacial thermal conductance ($G$ and
662 $G^\prime$) values for interfaces using various models for
663 solvent and capping agent (or without capping agent) at
664 $\langle T\rangle\sim$200K. Here ``D'' stands for deuterated
665 solvent or capping agent molecules. Error estimates are
666 indicated in parentheses.}
667
668 \begin{tabular}{llccc}
669 \hline\hline
670 Butanethiol model & Solvent & $G$ & $G^\prime$ \\
671 (or bare surface) & model & \multicolumn{2}{c}{(MW/m$^2$/K)} \\
672 \hline
673 UA & UA hexane & 131(9) & 87(10) \\
674 & UA hexane(D) & 153(5) & 136(13) \\
675 & AA hexane & 131(6) & 122(10) \\
676 & UA toluene & 187(16) & 151(11) \\
677 & AA toluene & 200(36) & 149(53) \\
678 \hline
679 AA & UA hexane & 116(9) & 129(8) \\
680 & AA hexane & 442(14) & 356(31) \\
681 & AA hexane(D) & 222(12) & 234(54) \\
682 & UA toluene & 125(25) & 97(60) \\
683 & AA toluene & 487(56) & 290(42) \\
684 \hline
685 AA(D) & UA hexane & 158(25) & 172(4) \\
686 & AA hexane & 243(29) & 191(11) \\
687 & AA toluene & 364(36) & 322(67) \\
688 \hline
689 bare & UA hexane & 46.5(3.2) & 49.4(4.5) \\
690 & UA hexane(D) & 43.9(4.6) & 43.0(2.0) \\
691 & AA hexane & 31.0(1.4) & 29.4(1.3) \\
692 & UA toluene & 70.1(1.3) & 65.8(0.5) \\
693 \hline\hline
694 \end{tabular}
695 \label{modelTest}
696 \end{center}
697 \end{minipage}
698 \end{table*}
699
700 To facilitate direct comparison between force fields, systems with the
701 same capping agent and solvent were prepared with the same length
702 scales for the simulation cells.
703
704 On bare metal / solvent surfaces, different force field models for
705 hexane yield similar results for both $G$ and $G^\prime$, and these
706 two definitions agree with each other very well. This is primarily an
707 indicator of weak interactions between the metal and the solvent.
708
709 For the fully-covered surfaces, the choice of force field for the
710 capping agent and solvent has a large impact on the calculated values
711 of $G$ and $G^\prime$. The AA thiol to AA solvent conductivities are
712 much larger than their UA to UA counterparts, and these values exceed
713 the experimental estimates by a large measure. The AA force field
714 allows significant energy to go into C-H (or C-D) stretching modes,
715 and since these modes are high frequency, this non-quantum behavior is
716 likely responsible for the overestimate of the conductivity. Compared
717 to the AA model, the UA model yields more reasonable conductivity
718 values with much higher computational efficiency.
719
720 \subsubsection{Are electronic excitations in the metal important?}
721 Because they lack electronic excitations, the QSC and related embedded
722 atom method (EAM) models for gold are known to predict unreasonably
723 low values for bulk conductivity
724 ($\lambda$).\cite{kuang:164101,ISI:000207079300006,Clancy:1992} If the
725 conductance between the phases ($G$) is governed primarily by phonon
726 excitation (and not electronic degrees of freedom), one would expect a
727 classical model to capture most of the interfacial thermal
728 conductance. Our results for $G$ and $G^\prime$ indicate that this is
729 indeed the case, and suggest that the modeling of interfacial thermal
730 transport depends primarily on the description of the interactions
731 between the various components at the interface. When the metal is
732 chemically capped, the primary barrier to thermal conductivity appears
733 to be the interface between the capping agent and the surrounding
734 solvent, so the excitations in the metal have little impact on the
735 value of $G$.
736
737 \subsection{Effects due to methodology and simulation parameters}
738
739 We have varied the parameters of the simulations in order to
740 investigate how these factors would affect the computation of $G$. Of
741 particular interest are: 1) the length scale for the applied thermal
742 gradient (modified by increasing the amount of solvent in the system),
743 2) the sign and magnitude of the applied thermal flux, 3) the average
744 temperature of the simulation (which alters the solvent density during
745 equilibration), and 4) the definition of the interfacial conductance
746 (Eqs. (\ref{discreteG}) or (\ref{derivativeG})) used in the
747 calculation.
748
749 Systems of different lengths were prepared by altering the number of
750 solvent molecules and extending the length of the box along the $z$
751 axis to accomodate the extra solvent. Equilibration at the same
752 temperature and pressure conditions led to nearly identical surface
753 areas ($L_x$ and $L_y$) available to the metal and capping agent,
754 while the extra solvent served mainly to lengthen the axis that was
755 used to apply the thermal flux. For a given value of the applied
756 flux, the different $z$ length scale has only a weak effect on the
757 computed conductivities.
758
759 \subsubsection{Effects of applied flux}
760 The NIVS algorithm allows changes in both the sign and magnitude of
761 the applied flux. It is possible to reverse the direction of heat
762 flow simply by changing the sign of the flux, and thermal gradients
763 which would be difficult to obtain experimentally ($5$ K/\AA) can be
764 easily simulated. However, the magnitude of the applied flux is not
765 arbitrary if one aims to obtain a stable and reliable thermal gradient.
766 A temperature gradient can be lost in the noise if $|J_z|$ is too
767 small, and excessive $|J_z|$ values can cause phase transitions if the
768 extremes of the simulation cell become widely separated in
769 temperature. Also, if $|J_z|$ is too large for the bulk conductivity
770 of the materials, the thermal gradient will never reach a stable
771 state.
772
773 Within a reasonable range of $J_z$ values, we were able to study how
774 $G$ changes as a function of this flux. In what follows, we use
775 positive $J_z$ values to denote the case where energy is being
776 transferred by the method from the metal phase and into the liquid.
777 The resulting gradient therefore has a higher temperature in the
778 liquid phase. Negative flux values reverse this transfer, and result
779 in higher temperature metal phases. The conductance measured under
780 different applied $J_z$ values is listed in Tables 2 and 3 in the
781 supporting information. These results do not indicate that $G$ depends
782 strongly on $J_z$ within this flux range. The linear response of flux
783 to thermal gradient simplifies our investigations in that we can rely
784 on $G$ measurement with only a small number $J_z$ values.
785
786 The sign of $J_z$ is a different matter, however, as this can alter
787 the temperature on the two sides of the interface. The average
788 temperature values reported are for the entire system, and not for the
789 liquid phase, so at a given $\langle T \rangle$, the system with
790 positive $J_z$ has a warmer liquid phase. This means that if the
791 liquid carries thermal energy via diffusive transport, {\it positive}
792 $J_z$ values will result in increased molecular motion on the liquid
793 side of the interface, and this will increase the measured
794 conductivity.
795
796 \subsubsection{Effects due to average temperature}
797
798 We also studied the effect of average system temperature on the
799 interfacial conductance. The simulations are first equilibrated in
800 the NPT ensemble at 1 atm. The TraPPE-UA model for hexane tends to
801 predict a lower boiling point (and liquid state density) than
802 experiments. This lower-density liquid phase leads to reduced contact
803 between the hexane and butanethiol, and this accounts for our
804 observation of lower conductance at higher temperatures. In raising
805 the average temperature from 200K to 250K, the density drop of
806 $\sim$20\% in the solvent phase leads to a $\sim$40\% drop in the
807 conductance.
808
809 Similar behavior is observed in the TraPPE-UA model for toluene,
810 although this model has better agreement with the experimental
811 densities of toluene. The expansion of the toluene liquid phase is
812 not as significant as that of the hexane (8.3\% over 100K), and this
813 limits the effect to $\sim$20\% drop in thermal conductivity.
814
815 Although we have not mapped out the behavior at a large number of
816 temperatures, is clear that there will be a strong temperature
817 dependence in the interfacial conductance when the physical properties
818 of one side of the interface (notably the density) change rapidly as a
819 function of temperature.
820
821 Besides the lower interfacial thermal conductance, surfaces at
822 relatively high temperatures are susceptible to reconstructions,
823 particularly when butanethiols fully cover the Au(111) surface. These
824 reconstructions include surface Au atoms which migrate outward to the
825 S atom layer, and butanethiol molecules which embed into the surface
826 Au layer. The driving force for this behavior is the strong Au-S
827 interactions which are modeled here with a deep Lennard-Jones
828 potential. This phenomenon agrees with reconstructions that have been
829 experimentally
830 observed.\cite{doi:10.1021/j100035a033,doi:10.1021/la026493y}. Vlugt
831 {\it et al.} kept their Au(111) slab rigid so that their simulations
832 could reach 300K without surface
833 reconstructions.\cite{vlugt:cpc2007154} Since surface reconstructions
834 blur the interface, the measurement of $G$ becomes more difficult to
835 conduct at higher temperatures. For this reason, most of our
836 measurements are undertaken at $\langle T\rangle\sim$200K where
837 reconstruction is minimized.
838
839 However, when the surface is not completely covered by butanethiols,
840 the simulated system appears to be more resistent to the
841 reconstruction. Our Au / butanethiol / toluene system had the Au(111)
842 surfaces 90\% covered by butanethiols, but did not see this above
843 phenomena even at $\langle T\rangle\sim$300K. That said, we did
844 observe butanethiols migrating to neighboring three-fold sites during
845 a simulation. Since the interface persisted in these simulations, we
846 were able to obtain $G$'s for these interfaces even at a relatively
847 high temperature without being affected by surface reconstructions.
848
849 \section{Discussion}
850 [COMBINE W. RESULTS]
851 The primary result of this work is that the capping agent acts as an
852 efficient thermal coupler between solid and solvent phases. One of
853 the ways the capping agent can carry out this role is to down-shift
854 between the phonon vibrations in the solid (which carry the heat from
855 the gold) and the molecular vibrations in the liquid (which carry some
856 of the heat in the solvent).
857
858 To investigate the mechanism of interfacial thermal conductance, the
859 vibrational power spectrum was computed. Power spectra were taken for
860 individual components in different simulations. To obtain these
861 spectra, simulations were run after equilibration in the
862 microcanonical (NVE) ensemble and without a thermal
863 gradient. Snapshots of configurations were collected at a frequency
864 that is higher than that of the fastest vibrations occurring in the
865 simulations. With these configurations, the velocity auto-correlation
866 functions can be computed:
867 \begin{equation}
868 C_A (t) = \langle\vec{v}_A (t)\cdot\vec{v}_A (0)\rangle
869 \label{vCorr}
870 \end{equation}
871 The power spectrum is constructed via a Fourier transform of the
872 symmetrized velocity autocorrelation function,
873 \begin{equation}
874 \hat{f}(\omega) =
875 \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} C_A (t) e^{-2\pi it\omega}\,dt
876 \label{fourier}
877 \end{equation}
878
879 \subsection{The role of specific vibrations}
880 The vibrational spectra for gold slabs in different environments are
881 shown as in Figure \ref{specAu}. Regardless of the presence of
882 solvent, the gold surfaces which are covered by butanethiol molecules
883 exhibit an additional peak observed at a frequency of
884 $\sim$165cm$^{-1}$. We attribute this peak to the S-Au bonding
885 vibration. This vibration enables efficient thermal coupling of the
886 surface Au layer to the capping agents. Therefore, in our simulations,
887 the Au / S interfaces do not appear to be the primary barrier to
888 thermal transport when compared with the butanethiol / solvent
889 interfaces. This supports the results of Luo {\it et
890 al.}\cite{Luo20101}, who reported $G$ for Au-SAM junctions roughly
891 twice as large as what we have computed for the thiol-liquid
892 interfaces.
893
894 \begin{figure}
895 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{vibration}
896 \caption{The vibrational power spectrum for thiol-capped gold has an
897 additional vibrational peak at $\sim $165cm$^{-1}$. Bare gold
898 surfaces (both with and without a solvent over-layer) are missing
899 this peak. A similar peak at $\sim $165cm$^{-1}$ also appears in
900 the vibrational power spectrum for the butanethiol capping agents.}
901 \label{specAu}
902 \end{figure}
903
904 Also in this figure, we show the vibrational power spectrum for the
905 bound butanethiol molecules, which also exhibits the same
906 $\sim$165cm$^{-1}$ peak.
907
908 \subsection{Overlap of power spectra}
909 A comparison of the results obtained from the two different organic
910 solvents can also provide useful information of the interfacial
911 thermal transport process. In particular, the vibrational overlap
912 between the butanethiol and the organic solvents suggests a highly
913 efficient thermal exchange between these components. Very high
914 thermal conductivity was observed when AA models were used and C-H
915 vibrations were treated classically. The presence of extra degrees of
916 freedom in the AA force field yields higher heat exchange rates
917 between the two phases and results in a much higher conductivity than
918 in the UA force field. The all-atom classical models include high
919 frequency modes which should be unpopulated at our relatively low
920 temperatures. This artifact is likely the cause of the high thermal
921 conductance in all-atom MD simulations.
922
923 The similarity in the vibrational modes available to solvent and
924 capping agent can be reduced by deuterating one of the two components
925 (Fig. \ref{aahxntln}). Once either the hexanes or the butanethiols
926 are deuterated, one can observe a significantly lower $G$ and
927 $G^\prime$ values (Table \ref{modelTest}).
928
929 \begin{figure}
930 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{aahxntln}
931 \caption{Spectra obtained for all-atom (AA) Au / butanethiol / solvent
932 systems. When butanethiol is deuterated (lower left), its
933 vibrational overlap with hexane decreases significantly. Since
934 aromatic molecules and the butanethiol are vibrationally dissimilar,
935 the change is not as dramatic when toluene is the solvent (right).}
936 \label{aahxntln}
937 \end{figure}
938
939 For the Au / butanethiol / toluene interfaces, having the AA
940 butanethiol deuterated did not yield a significant change in the
941 measured conductance. Compared to the C-H vibrational overlap between
942 hexane and butanethiol, both of which have alkyl chains, the overlap
943 between toluene and butanethiol is not as significant and thus does
944 not contribute as much to the heat exchange process.
945
946 Previous observations of Zhang {\it et al.}\cite{hase:2010} indicate
947 that the {\it intra}molecular heat transport due to alkylthiols is
948 highly efficient. Combining our observations with those of Zhang {\it
949 et al.}, it appears that butanethiol acts as a channel to expedite
950 heat flow from the gold surface and into the alkyl chain. The
951 vibrational coupling between the metal and the liquid phase can
952 therefore be enhanced with the presence of suitable capping agents.
953
954 Deuterated models in the UA force field did not decouple the thermal
955 transport as well as in the AA force field. The UA models, even
956 though they have eliminated the high frequency C-H vibrational
957 overlap, still have significant overlap in the lower-frequency
958 portions of the infrared spectra (Figure \ref{uahxnua}). Deuterating
959 the UA models did not decouple the low frequency region enough to
960 produce an observable difference for the results of $G$ (Table
961 \ref{modelTest}).
962
963 \begin{figure}
964 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{uahxnua}
965 \caption{Vibrational power spectra for UA models for the butanethiol
966 and hexane solvent (upper panel) show the high degree of overlap
967 between these two molecules, particularly at lower frequencies.
968 Deuterating a UA model for the solvent (lower panel) does not
969 decouple the two spectra to the same degree as in the AA force
970 field (see Fig \ref{aahxntln}).}
971 \label{uahxnua}
972 \end{figure}
973
974 \section{Conclusions}
975 The NIVS algorithm has been applied to simulations of
976 butanethiol-capped Au(111) surfaces in the presence of organic
977 solvents. This algorithm allows the application of unphysical thermal
978 flux to transfer heat between the metal and the liquid phase. With the
979 flux applied, we were able to measure the corresponding thermal
980 gradients and to obtain interfacial thermal conductivities. Under
981 steady states, 2-3 ns trajectory simulations are sufficient for
982 computation of this quantity.
983
984 Our simulations have seen significant conductance enhancement in the
985 presence of capping agent, compared with the bare gold / liquid
986 interfaces. The vibrational coupling between the metal and the liquid
987 phase is enhanced by a chemically-bonded capping agent. Furthermore,
988 the coverage percentage of the capping agent plays an important role
989 in the interfacial thermal transport process. Moderately low coverages
990 allow higher contact between capping agent and solvent, and thus could
991 further enhance the heat transfer process, giving a non-monotonic
992 behavior of conductance with increasing coverage.
993
994 Our results, particularly using the UA models, agree well with
995 available experimental data. The AA models tend to overestimate the
996 interfacial thermal conductance in that the classically treated C-H
997 vibrations become too easily populated. Compared to the AA models, the
998 UA models have higher computational efficiency with satisfactory
999 accuracy, and thus are preferable in modeling interfacial thermal
1000 transport.
1001
1002 Of the two definitions for $G$, the discrete form
1003 (Eq. \ref{discreteG}) was easier to use and gives out relatively
1004 consistent results, while the derivative form (Eq. \ref{derivativeG})
1005 is not as versatile. Although $G^\prime$ gives out comparable results
1006 and follows similar trend with $G$ when measuring close to fully
1007 covered or bare surfaces, the spatial resolution of $T$ profile
1008 required for the use of a derivative form is limited by the number of
1009 bins and the sampling required to obtain thermal gradient information.
1010
1011 Vlugt {\it et al.} have investigated the surface thiol structures for
1012 nanocrystalline gold and pointed out that they differ from those of
1013 the Au(111) surface.\cite{landman:1998,vlugt:cpc2007154} This
1014 difference could also cause differences in the interfacial thermal
1015 transport behavior. To investigate this problem, one would need an
1016 effective method for applying thermal gradients in non-planar
1017 (i.e. spherical) geometries.
1018
1019 \section{Acknowledgments}
1020 Support for this project was provided by the National Science
1021 Foundation under grant CHE-0848243. Computational time was provided by
1022 the Center for Research Computing (CRC) at the University of Notre
1023 Dame.
1024
1025 \newpage
1026
1027 \bibliography{stokes}
1028
1029 \end{doublespace}
1030 \end{document}
1031