Kirigami-Inspired Thermal Regulator

Thermal regulation is crucial in modern electronics, but how to augment the thermal-switching ratio of high-performance heat regulators is still a puzzle that limits applications. In this kirigami-inspired study, a mechanical metamaterial made of nitrogen-doped porous graphene is designed to achieve an impressively high thermal-switching ratio. The high ratio comes from a chiral folding-unfolding deformation, which induces a metal-insulator transition that switches the primary heat carriers from electrons to phonons. This work provides a design paradigm to bridge the gap between kinematics and functional metamaterials and promote the development of high-performance thermal regulators.