Metaceramic enables ultrahigh-temperature record rectification and programmable 3D thermal control

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Authors: Yishu Su, Haoliang Huo, Qianqian Wu, Shuihua Yang, Chengrui Yan, Zongbing Chen, Jiecai Han, Xinghong Zhang, Paolo Angelo Colombo, Cheng‐Wei Qiu, Jian Min Xiong
Cited by: 1
References: 41

Abstract

Thermal rectification enables asymmetric heat flow and offers transformative potential for thermal management under extreme environments, yet its practical development has been constrained by a fundamental trade-off between high-temperature stability and nonlinear thermal response. Conventional rectifiers face intrinsic limitations, with operating temperatures below 900 kelvin and rectification ratios under 3.5. Here, we present a metaceramic, a monolithic metamaterial ceramic, architected with multiscale graded porosity that synergistically integrates four nonlinear heat transfer mechanisms: ion-tailored conduction, cavity-modulated radiation, chaotic advection-enhanced convection, and spontaneous convective dissipation. This metaceramic achieves a record thermal rectification ratio of 8.5 at 2473 kelvin, surpassing previous benchmarks by over 140%. In addition, the design's continuum-like, functionally partitionable nature enables its extension into a triaxial ultrahigh-temperature rectifier, which provides programmable, volumetric thermal flow control along three independent axes, effectively elevating rectification from a scalar to a tensor-like property. By decoupling and recombining multimodal nonlinearities within a single material, we overcome the classical stability-nonlinearity conflict. Our work establishes a metamaterials platform for breaking thermal reciprocity under extreme conditions, with implications for heat management in hypersonic systems, spacecraft, and energy technologies.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Thermal properties of materials Model Reduction and Neural Networks Nanofluid Flow and Heat Transfer

Publication details

Journal / source
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Volume
12
Issue
25
Pages
eaef4765–eaef4765
Publication date
17 June 2026
Language
EN