(193ad) Hybrid Organic Linkers for Enhanced Thermally Conductive and Optically Transparent Polymeric Material By Engineering Inter-Molecular Interactions

In traditional polymer-filler composites, hybrid fillers with different size, shape, functionality have shown to enhance heat conduction through synergistic impact of combined filler. This study explores and exhibits the potential of an alternating yet promising technology of using organic fillers with hybrid functional groups to engineer intermolecular interactions to develop thermal conductive pathways within polymer chains to develop better heat dissipating material which can be optically transparent. Here intermolecular interaction like hydrogen bonding are used as an effective medium to drive the phonon (heat packet) propagation in the polymer based material incorporated with different organic molecules having varied functional group at terminal end like -OH, -NH₂ and -COOH. Highest values of thermal conductivity was achieved by molecules with hybrid groups combination present at their terminal end comprising of -COOH and -NH2 followed by -OH and -NH2 and similar groups. It have revealed that both strength of inter-molecular interaction and quality of "thermal linkages" significantly impact thermal conduction in such systems. These composite were characterized by Scanning Thermal Microscopy in addition to conventional methods to elucidate macro/microscopic thermal conduction. Interestingly, these materials were found to have inverse thermal conductivity-crystallinity relationship which is usually an opposite trend than the present belief. Principles presented in this study can be used for the design of thermally conductive and optically transparent material for heat management applications