Move over metals, plastics can be thermally conductive too

Discovering ways to make materials smaller, lighter, and more efficient isn’t a new concept for engineers, but Jon Malen is leading a diverse group of researchers that plan to take that idea one step further. A team of mechanical engineers, materials scientists, and chemists from Carnegie Mellon University, University of Florida, University of Michigan, and University of Delaware funded by a Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) grant, will work to develop polymers that transport heat as effectively as metals, with the added ability to switch between high and low thermal conductivity values on demand.

While there are existing examples of high thermal conductivity polymers in the scientific literature, they revolve around processing approaches that cannot be scaled to create meaningful parts.

“We don’t only want to make them scalable,” explained Malen, a professor of mechanical engineering. “Our team also has totally new ideas for how to make polymers that can behave like a plastic, but will switch when exposed to external stimuli, such as light or electric fields, to transport heat with comparable thermal conductivity as some metals.”

Our team also has totally new ideas for how to make polymers that can behave like a plastic, with comparable thermal conductivity as some metals.

Jon Malen, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

A material like this can be used to make lightweight parts that remove heat from electronics, motors, and even the human body.

“Because plastics tend to be more compliant, we can bend and stretch them to make components that fit better and will serve more reliably than rigid metal parts,” said Alan McGaughey, a professor of mechanical engineering collaborating on the research. “For example, these plastics could be used in fabrics to create thermal cloaks. The thermal signature of clothing made with this material would be controllable since we hope to be able to manipulate the material’s properties.”

The team will use machine learning to guide development and to create a library of high thermal conductivity polymers intended to inspire other researchers to focus their efforts.

Collaboration with polymer chemists will truly enable us to point the field in the right direction to identify advanced polymer structures.

Alan McGaughey, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

“This grant gives us the opportunity to work directly with chemists who are true experts in the polymer space,” said McGaughy. “We will continuously learn from one another, and that is not only exciting for the researchers and students involved, but it will truly enable us to point the field in the right direction to identify advanced polymer structures.”

Researchers include Carnegie Mellon University’s Jonathan Malen and Alan McGaughey; University of Florida’s Brent Sumerlin and Austin Evans; University of Michigan’s Pramod Reddy; and University of Delaware’s Arthi Jayaraman.