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oai:recercat.cat:2445/509262025-12-04T20:46:27Zcom_2072_1057col_2072_478822col_2072_478917

Thermostatistical description of small systems in nonequilibrium conditions: Energy conversion and harvesting Santamaría Holek, Iván Pérez Madrid, Agustín Histèresi Nanotecnologia Conversió directa de l'energia Termodinàmica estadística Termodinàmica del desequilibri Hysteresis Nanotechnology Direct energy conversion Statistical thermodynamics Nonequilibrium thermodynamics Hysteresis cycles are very important features of energy conversion and harvesting devices, such as batteries. The efficiency of these may be strongly affected by the physical size of the system. Here, we show that in systems which are small enough, the existence of physical boundaries which produce nonhomogeneities of the interaction potential gives rise to inflections and barriers in the associated free energy. This in turn brings on irreversible processes which can be triggered under suitable external conditions imposed by a heat bath. As an example, by controlling the temperature, the state of a small system may be impelled to oscillate between two different structural configurations or aggregation states avoiding equilibrium coexistence and therefore dissipating energy. This cyclical behavior associated with a hysteresis cycle may be prototypical of energy conversion, storage, or generating nanodevices, as exemplified by Li-ion insertion batteries. 2014-03-06T10:52:46Z 2014-03-06T10:52:46Z 2014-01-30 2014-03-06T10:52:47Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 1539-3755 https://hdl.handle.net/2445/50926 633010 eng Reproducció del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.012144 Physical Review E, 2014, vol. 89, p. 012144-1-012144-9 http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.012144 (c) American Physical Society, 2014 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess 9 p. application/pdf American Physical Society Articles publicats en revistes (Física de la Matèria Condensada)