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Cited by 171Thermal properties of materialsPolymer crystallization and propertiesCarbon Nanotubes in Composites

Crystalline polymer nanofibers with ultra-high strength and thermal conductivity

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Shrestha, Ramesh, Li, Pengfei, Chatterjee, Bikramjit, Zheng, Teng, Wu, Xufei, Liu, Zeyu, Luo, Tengfei, Choi, Sukwon +3 more·2018·Nature Communications
DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-03978-3PMC PMC5916895
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Abstract

Polymers are widely used in daily life, but exhibit low strength and low thermal conductivity as compared to most structural materials. In this work, we develop crystalline polymer nanofibers that exhibit a superb combination of ultra-high strength (11 GPa) and thermal conductivity, exceeding any existing soft materials. Specifically, we demonstrate unique low-dimensionality phonon physics for thermal transport in the nanofibers by measuring their thermal conductivity in a broad temperature range from 20 to 320 K, where the thermal conductivity increases with increasing temperature following an unusual ~T1 trend below 100 K and eventually peaks around 130–150 K reaching a metal-like value of 90 W m−1 K−1, and then decays as 1/T. The polymer nanofibers are purely electrically insulating and bio-compatible. Combined with their remarkable lightweight-thermal-mechanical concurrent functionality, unique applications in electronics and biology emerge.

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  • The thermal diffusivity depends on temperature, ruling out a constant relaxation time for all phonon polarizations as suggested in ref. 20.

    “First, the thermal diffusivity is observed to depend on temperature, ruling out a constant relaxation time for all phonon polarizations as suggested in ref. 20.”

    From Origin of high thermal conductivity in disentangled ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene films: ballistic phonons within enlarged crystals (2022) · cites this paper as [20]

    In Results > Thermal transport in crystalline PENF (page unavailable), the paper reports temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and assumes the same phonon mean free path at low temperatures. It does not report temperature-dependent thermal diffusivity or suggest a constant relaxation time for all phonon polarizations; mean free path and relaxation time are different quantities. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Thermal conductivity values around 20-30 W m−1 K−1 and ≳60 W m−1 K−1 have been reported in polyethylene microfibers and nanofibers, respectively.

    “Recently, thermal conductivity values around 20−30 Wm−1 K−1 and ≳60 Wm−1 K−1 have been reported in PE microfibers14,18 and nanofibers19,20, respectively.”

    From Origin of high thermal conductivity in disentangled ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene films: ballistic phonons within enlarged crystals (2022) · cites this paper as [20]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Shrestha, R., Li, P., Chatterjee, B., Zheng, T., Wu, X., Liu, Z., Luo, T., Choi, S., Hippalgaonkar, K., de Boer, M. P., & Shen, S.
Affiliations
  • Carnegie Mellon University (US)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • University of Notre Dame (US)
  • Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
Corresponding author
Shen, Sheng
ORCID
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-04-25
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
1664-1664
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41467-018-03978-3
PMC
PMC5916895
OpenAlex
W2800538251
Cited by
171
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 3
FWCI
5.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (1334630)
  • U.S. Air Force (FA9550)
  • Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI-1334630)
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-17, FA9550-, FA9550-17-1, FA9550-17-1-0141)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Thermal properties of materials
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer crystallization and properties
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Carbon Nanotubes in Composites
Keywords
ultra-high strength, thermal conductivity, heat transport, temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, biomaterials, insulators, lightweight materials

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