Electrically regulated thermal conductivity of aramid polymer systems

Abstract

Aramid polymers, renowned for their electronic insulation and thermal conductive properties, are widely adopted as thermal management materials in power electronics. However, the thermal conductivity of aramid polymers under electric field has not been thoroughly understood. In this study, we investigated the thermal conductivity of amorphous and aligned aramid polymer systems under electrical field utilizing equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Simulation results showed that the alignment of polymer chain can significantly enhance the thermal conductivity of aramid polymer systems, achieving up to 10.13 W/m-K. Moreover, polarization of aligned aramid polymer was observed when the applied electric field exceeded 14 V/nm. Interestingly, the thermal conductivity of aligned aramid polymer was selectively modulated by the applied electric field. To unravel the underlying phonon mechanism, the molecular orientation of polymer chains and phonon spectral information were analyzed. Our study provides guidance into understanding thermal transport mechanism and thermal conductivity modulation in polymers.