Alternative Nanostructures for Thermophones

Abstract

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 thermacoustic 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 thermacoustic 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.