Revisit nonequilibrium thermodynamics based on thermomass theory and its applications in nanosystems

The development of non-Fourier heat conduction models is encouraged by the invalidity of Fourier’s law to explain heat conduction in ultrafast or ultrasmall systems. The production of negative entropy will result from the combination of traditional nonequlibrium thermodynamics and non-Fourier heat conduction models. To resolve this paradox, extended irreversible thermodynamics (EIT) introduces a new state variable. However, real dynamics variables like force and momentum are still missing from nonequilibrium thermodynamics and EIT’s generalized force and generalized flux. Heat has both mass and energy, according to thermomass theory and Einstein’s mass-energy relation. The generalized heat conduction model containing non-Fourier effects was established by thermomass gas model. The thermomass theory reshapes the concept of the generalized force and flux, temperature, and entropy production in nonequilibrium thermodynamics and revisits the assumption for the linear regression of the fluctuations in Onsager reciprocal relation. The generalized heat conduction model based on thermomass theory has been used to study thermal conductivity, thermoelectric effect, and thermal rectification effect in nanosystems.