Thermal Conductivity of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene Crystal: Defect Effect Uncovered by 0 K Limit Phonon Diffusion.

Crystalline ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has the highest reported thermal conductivity at room temperature: 104 W/(m·K), while theoretical predictions proposed an even higher value of 300 W/(m·K). Defects and amorphous fraction in practical UHMWPE fibers significantly reduces the thermal conductivity from the ideal value. Although the amorphous effect can be readily analyzed based on the effective medium theory, the defect effects are poorly understood. This work reports on the temperature-dependent behavior (down to 22 K) of thermal diffusivity and conductivity of UHMWPE fibers in anticipation of observing the reduction in phonon density and scattering rate against temperature and of freezing out high-momentum phonons to clearly observe the defect effects. By studying the temperature-dependent behavior of thermal reffusivity (Θ, inverse of thermal diffusivity) of UHMWPE fibers, we are able to quantify the defect effects on thermal conductivity. After taking out the amorphous region's effect, the residual thermal reffusivities (Θ0) for the studied two samples at the 0 K limit are determined as 3.45 × 10(4) and 2.95 × 10(4) s/m(2), respectively. For rare-/no-defects crystalline materials, Θ0 should be close to zero at the 0 K limit. The defect-induced low-momentum phonon mean free paths are determined as 8.06 and 9.42 nm for the two samples. They are smaller than the crystallite size in the (002) direction (19.7 nm) determined by X-ray diffraction. This strongly demonstrates the diffuse phonon scattering at the grain boundaries. The grain boundary thermal conductance (G) can be evaluated as G ≈ ßρc(p)v with sound accuracy. At room temperature, G is around 3.73 GW/(m(2)·K) for S2, comparable to that of interfaces with tight atomic bonding.

The defect level and ideal thermal conductivity of graphene uncovered by residual thermal reffusivity at the 0 K limit.

Due to its intriguing thermal and electrical properties, graphene has been widely studied for potential applications in sensor and energy devices. However, the reported value for its thermal conductivity spans from dozens to thousands of W m(-1) K(-1) due to different levels of alternations and defects in graphene samples. In this work, the thermal diffusivity of suspended four-layered graphene foam (GF) is characterized from room temperature (RT) down to 17 K. For the first time, we identify the defect level in graphene by evaluating the inverse of thermal diffusivity (termed "thermal reffusivity": Θ) at the 0 K limit. By using the Debye model of Θ = Θ0 + C× e(-θ/2T) and fitting the Θ-T curve to the point of T = 0 K, we identify the defect level (Θ0) and determine the Debye temperature of graphene. Θ0 is found to be 1878 s m(-2) for the studied GF and 43-112 s m(-2) for three highly crystalline graphite materials. This uncovers a 16-43-fold higher defect level in GF than that in pyrolytic graphite. In GF, the phonon mean free path solely induced by defects and boundary scattering is determined as 166 nm. The Debye temperature of graphene is determined to be 1813 K, which is very close to the average theoretical Debye temperature (1911 K) of the three acoustic phonon modes in graphene. By subtracting the defect effect, we report the ideal thermal diffusivity and conductivity (κideal) of graphene presented in the 3D foam structure in the range of 33-299 K. Detailed physics based on chemical composition and structure analysis are given to explain the κideal-T profile by comparing with those reported for suspended graphene.

Thermophysical properties of lignocellulose: a cell-scale study down to 41 K.

Thermal energy transport is of great importance in lignocellulose pyrolysis for biofuels. The thermophysical properties of lignocellulose significantly affect the overall properties of bio-composites and the related thermal transport. In this work, cell-scale lignocellulose (mono-layer plant cells) is prepared to characterize their thermal properties from room temperature down to ∼ 40 K. The thermal conductivities of cell-scale lignocellulose along different directions show a little anisotropy due to the cell structure anisotropy. It is found that with temperature going down, the volumetric specific heat of the lignocellulose shows a slower decreasing trend against temperature than microcrystalline cellulose, and its value is always higher than that of microcrystalline cellulose. The thermal conductivity of lignocellulose decreases with temperature from 243 K to 317 K due to increasing phonon-phonon scatterings. From 41 K to 243 K, the thermal conductivity rises with temperature and its change mainly depends on the heat capacity's change.