19.6 Conclusion The thermal conductivity of particle reinforced polymer nanocomposites is investigated both analytically and experimentally. The effect of particle functionalization, particle size, volume fraction, and temperature on the effective thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites is investigated. Both the experimental and the analytical model agreed. Based on the experimental and analytical studies, the findings are summarized below. • Functionalizing particles have improved both interfacial bonding and uniform distribution of the particles in the matrix. • The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites increases with the particle volume fractions. • The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites decreases with the particle size at the same volume fraction. • The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites increases with the temperature at lower volume fractions and decreases with the temperature at higher volume fraction. • The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites decreases with the particle size at the same volume fraction. Acknowledgments The financial support of the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC-1342379 is gratefully acknowledged. The materials have been fabricated by Prof. Sanat Kumar’s group at Columbia University and are also gratefully acknowledged. References 1. Weindenfeller B, Hofer M, Schilling FR (2004) Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat capacity of particle filled polypropylene. Compos Part A Appl Sci Manuf 35:423–429 2. Naik NK, Asmelash A, Kavala VR, Veerraju C (2007) Interlaminar shear properties of polymer matrix composites: strain rate effect. Mech Mater 39:1043–1052 3. Kidane A (2013) On the failure and fracture of polymer foam containing discontinuities. ISRN Mater Sci 2013:1–9 4. Kochetov R, Korobko AV, Andritsch T, Morshuis PHF, Picken SJ (2011) Modeling of thermal conductivity in polymer nanocomposites and the impact of the interface between filler and matrix. J Phys Appl Phys 44:395401 5. Carson JK (2011) Measurement and modeling of the thermal conductivity of dispersed aluminum composites. Int Commun Heat Mass Transf 38:1024–1028 6. Lu TJ, Hutchison JW (1994) Effect of matrix cracking and interface sliding on the thermal expansion of fiber-reinforced composites. Composite 26:403–414 7. Nan C-W, Birringer R, Clarke DR, Gleiter H (1997) Effective thermal conductivity of particulate composites with interfacial thermal resistance. J Appl Phys 81:6692 8. Nielsen LE (1974) The thermal and electrical conductivity of two-phase systems. Ind Eng Chem Fundam 13:17–20 9. Moll JF, Akcora P, Rungta A, Gong S, Colby RH, Benicewicz BC, Kumar SK (2011) Mechanical reinforcement in polymer melts filled with polymer grafted nanoparticles. Macromolecules 44(18):7473–7477 156 A. Tessema and A. Kidane
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTMzNzEzMQ==