Prediction of the Thermal Conductivity of Polypropylenes and Propylene Copolymers Based on Crystallinity or Elastic Modulus
Journal article, 2026
Knowledge about the thermal conductivity of propylene-based materials is important for the development of new dielectric materials. However, many research laboratories do not have access to suitable instrumentation. Here, the thermal conductivity of a series of isotactic and low-tacticity polypropylenes as well as random, heterophasic and random heterophasic propylene-based copolymers is characterized. The thermal conductivity of isotropic samples is found to linearly increase from approximately 0.18 W m−1 K−1 for amorphous material to 0.26 W m−1 K−1 for a crystallinity of 60%. At the same time, the Young's modulus exponentially increases from 24 MPa to more than 1700 MPa for the most crystalline materials, which is used to predict a logarithmic increase of the thermal conductivity with Young's modulus. Overall, the results presented here allow us to estimate the thermal conductivity of propylene-based materials with an uncertainty of about 0.01 W m−1 K−1 through straightforward differential scanning calorimetry or tensile deformation measurements.
elastic modulus
polypropylene
thermal conductivity
random heterophasic copolymer
crystallinity
Author
Przemyslaw Sowinski
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Borouge International
Zijin Zeng
Hot Disk AB
Besira Mekonnen Mihiretie
Hot Disk AB
Ewa Piorkowska
Polish Academy of Sciences
Mathis Mortensen Brette
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Ergang Wang
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Thomas Gkourmpis
Borouge International
Stefan Hellström
Borouge International
Per Ola Hagstrand
Borouge International
Christian Müller
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Journal of Applied Polymer Science
0021-8995 (ISSN) 1097-4628 (eISSN)
Vol. In Press e71618Hybrid and Organic Thermoelectric Systems (HORATES)
European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/955837), 2021-03-01 -- 2025-02-28.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Textile, Rubber and Polymeric Materials
Other Materials Engineering
Infrastructure
Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory
Areas of Advance
Materials Science
DOI
10.1002/app.71618