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Updated: May 21, 2026

Functionalization of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes with Thermo-reversible Block Copolymers and Characterization by Small-angle Neutron Scattering
Published on: June 1, 2016
Unravelling the intrinsic thermal conduction mechanism through phonon transport pathway engineering of long-range
Kuan Zhang1, Junliang Zhang1, Jiahao An1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an Shaanxi 710072 P. R. China junliang.zhang@nwpu.edu.cn gjw@nwpu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Highly thermally conductive polymers are playing essential roles in various electronics-related fields. However, the mechanism underlying thermal conduction remains hitherto elusive. Herein, the intrinsic thermal conduction mechanism of polymers is disclosed by rational molecular structural design and precise synthesis through reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. By precisely controlling the spatial distribution and sequence of the cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystalline (LCx) monomer and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA, epoxy-containing unit), as well as the length of the flexible segment (-CH2-) x in LCx, block copolymers PLCx m -b-PGMA n with multi-level long-range ordered structures were generated. Specifically, hexagonally packed cylinder-like (HEX-like), lamellar-like (LAM-like), and inverted hexagonally packed cylinder-like (inverted HEX-like) microstructures were effectively constructed as the flexible segment of -CH2- was increased to 11 ((-CH2-)11, LC11). It is noteworthy that increasing the ratio of LC11 was highly beneficial for enhancing thermal conductivity. Moreover, compared with HEX-like and inverted HEX-like morphologies, which exhibited numerous thermal interfaces, the LAM-like morphology was able to construct long-range phonon transport pathways and reduce phonon scattering through the synergistic effect of microphase separation-driven confined assembly with a semicrystalline structure and supramolecular assembly, thereby exhibiting higher thermal conductivity. This study elucidates the thermal transport mechanism at molecular levels by experiments and simulations, highlighting the crucial role of multiscale chain alignment and long-range ordered structures synergistically enhancing phonon propagation in polymers.
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