Heat Conduction

Heat conduction is the transfer of internal energy by microscopic diffusion and collisions of particles or quasi-particles within a body due to a temperature gradient. The microscopically diffusing and colliding objects include molecules, electrons, atoms, and phonons. They transfer disorganized microscopic kinetic and potential energy, which are jointly known as internal energy. Conduction can only take place within an object or material, or between two objects that are in direct or indirect contact with each other. Conduction takes place in all forms of ponderable matter, such as solids, liquids, gases and plasmas. Whether by conduction or by thermal radiation, heat spontaneously flows from a hotter to a colder body. In the absence of external drivers, temperature differences decay over time, and the bodies approach thermal equilibrium. In conduction, the heat flow is within and through the body itself. In contrast, in heat transfer by thermal radiation, the transfer is often between bodies, which can be spatially separate. Also possible is transfer of heat by a combination of conduction and thermal radiation.

Graphene

Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon allotrope with the carbon atoms arranged in a two- dimensional honeycomb lattice. It was first isolated in 2004 and is an extremely thin material along with being flexible and transparent. It is one of the strongest materials at present and the carbon arrangement provides it with attractive and unusual characteristics. Due to these reasons, it is one of the most promising nanomaterials and is being considered in a wide range of applications ranging from optics to electronics.

Nichrome

Patented in 1906 by Albert Marsh (US patent 811,859), nichrome is the oldest documented form of resistance heating alloy. A common nichrome alloy is 80% nickel and 20% chromium, by mass, but there are many other combinations of metals for various applications. Nichrome is consistently silvery-grey in colour, is corrosion-resistant, and has a high melting point of about 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). Because of its low cost of manufacture, strength, ductility, resistance to oxidation, stability at high temperatures, and resistance to the flow of electrons, nichrome is widely used in electric heating elements in applications such as hair dryers and heat guns. Typically, nichrome is wound in coils to a certain electrical resistance, and when current is passed through it the Joule heating produces heat.