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Enhanced in-plane thermal conductivity of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene films via a new design of a two-step biaxial stretching mode

Polymer Journal volume 53, pages 1371–1381 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

The thermal conductivity of bulk polymeric films can be generally improved by introducing interlaced lamellar or “shish-kebab” crystals along the machine direction (MD) through uniaxial stretching or high-pressure extrusion. However, the thermal pathway along the transverse direction (TD) is disrupted to limit the enhancement of in-plane thermal conductivity as the draw ratio increases. In this paper, a mesh-like crystal structure of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) films is achieved through a two-step biaxial stretching mode to construct a planar-oriented crystal network. The in-plane thermal conductivity increases to 7.3 W m/K at a total draw ratio of 25. This mesh-like crystal network structure was investigated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and 1-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction (1D-WXRD). The evolution mechanism of the crystal network structure is proposed on the basis of single-temperature biaxial stretching modes with different draw ratios. The construction of additional order along the TD to form a planar-oriented crystal network structure by biaxial stretching can provide new insight into improving the in-plane thermal conductivity of bulk polymeric films.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51573118, U1630139, and 51721091), Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT-15R48), State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Qi Zhang, Tianci Zhang, Yang Zhou, Chunhai Li, Hong Wu & Shaoyun Guo

  2. Research Center for Application of Graphene, Sichuan University-WuXi, Wuxi, 214000, China

    Hong Wu

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  1. Qi Zhang
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Correspondence to Hong Wu or Shaoyun Guo.

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Zhang, Q., Zhang, T., Zhou, Y. et al. Enhanced in-plane thermal conductivity of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene films via a new design of a two-step biaxial stretching mode. Polym J 53, 1371–1381 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00516-9

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