Analytical model for thermal boundary conductance and equilibrium thermal accommodation coefficient at solid/gas interfaces.

We develop an analytical model for the thermal boundary conductance between a solid and a gas. By considering the thermal fluxes in the solid and the gas, we describe the transmission of energy across the solid/gas interface with diffuse mismatch theory. From the predicted thermal boundary conductances across solid/gas interfaces, the equilibrium thermal accommodation coefficient is determined and compared to predictions from molecular dynamics simulations on the model solid-gas systems. We show that our model is applicable for modeling the thermal accommodation of gases on solid surfaces at non-cryogenic temperatures and relatively strong solid-gas interactions (ε(sf) ≳ k(B)T).