Effect of boundary chain folding on thermal conductivity of lamellar amorphous polyethylene.

ABSTRACT: Thermal transport properties of amorphous polymers depend significantly on the chain morphology, and boundary chain folding is a common phenomenon in bulk or lamellar polymer materials. In this work, by using molecular dynamics simulations, we study thermal conductivity of lamellar amorphous polyethylene (LAPE) with varying chain length (L ₀). For a short L ₀ without boundary chain folding, thermal conductivity of LAPE is homogeneous along the chain length direction. In contrast, boundary chain folding takes place for large L ₀, and the local thermal conductivity at the boundary is notably lower than that of the central region, indicating inhomogeneous thermal transport in LAPE. By analysing the chain morphology, we reveal that the boun

SUBMITTER: Ouyang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9073277 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature