Advances in developing thermally conductive polymers

Abstract

Polymers, with various advantages including lightweight, low cost, flexibility and ease of processing, are popular choices for thermal management in flexible electronics, photovoltaics, fuel cells, etc. In this perspective, we review the recent progress of developing uniaxial thermally conductive polymers and three-dimensional polymers with high thermal conductivity, discuss new opportunities in applying machine learning methods to search for thermally conductive polymers, and finally point out current key challenges and future directions in simulations and experimental measurements. The useful insights in this perspective can guide the rational design of thermally conductive polymers for advanced thermal management.

Keywords

• Thermally conductive polymers
• thermal management
• alignment
• inter/intra-molecular interactions
• machine learning