Omar Khalid
Plastic is a widely used material with applications ranging from cookware to electronics. Its effectiveness in these applications is largely due to its ability to act as a thermal insulator, preventing the conduction of heat. However, the insulating properties of plastic that make it safe for handling hot substances can also lead to overheating in electronic devices. Researchers have developed a polymer thermal conductor that transforms plastic into a heat conductor, potentially mitigating the issue of overheating in devices like laptops and mobile phones. This raises the question: Is plastic a thermal conductor or insulator?
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Conductor of heat | No, but some plastics have higher levels of thermal conductivity than others. |
| Insulator | Yes, plastic is an excellent insulator. |
| Electrical conductor | No, but some synthetic polymers act as electrical conductors. |
| Thermal conductivity | 2 watts per meter per kelvin |
| Use cases | Coffee cup sleeves, cookware, dishes, bowls, casings for laptops, mobile phones, and other electronics |
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What You'll Learn
Plastic is a good insulator
Plastic cookware is safe to use, and plastic dishes and bowls don't get too hot when they're put in the microwave. This is because plastic doesn't let heat flow through it easily. With very few free electrons, thermal conduction does not take place in plastic.
Polyurethane and polystyrene, two of the most common types of plastic used for everyday household items, have lower levels of thermal conductivity. This makes them good insulators.
Plastic is also an electrical insulator, meaning it does not conduct electricity. This makes it ideal for preventing devices such as laptops and mobile phones from short-circuiting.
Overall, plastic's insulating properties make it a safe and effective material for a variety of applications, from cookware to electrical components.
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Plastic is not a good conductor of heat
At a microscopic level, the polymers that make up plastics are long chains of molecular units, often tangled like a ball of spaghetti. This makes it difficult for heat carriers to move through the material, as they get trapped in the polymeric knots and snarls. This is why plastic is a poor conductor of heat.
While plastic is generally a poor conductor of heat, there are some plastics with higher levels of thermal conductivity than others. For example, polyurethane and polystyrene are two common types of plastic used for household items, and these have lower levels of thermal conductivity.
Engineers at MIT have developed a polymer thermal conductor, which is a plastic material that works as a heat conductor, dissipating heat rather than insulating it. These new polymers are lightweight and flexible, and can conduct 10 times as much heat as most commercially used polymers. This could be used to prevent laptops, mobile phones, and other electronics from overheating.
Another example of a heat-conducting polymer is polythiophene, a type of conjugated polymer that is commonly used in many electronic devices.
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Some plastics have higher thermal conductivity
Plastics are typically considered excellent insulators, meaning they efficiently trap heat. This makes them useful for applications such as coffee cup sleeves or cookware. However, this insulating property becomes a disadvantage in products like laptop and mobile phone casings, where the trapped heat can lead to overheating. To address this issue, researchers have developed a new generation of plastics with higher thermal conductivity, capable of dissipating heat instead of insulating it.
The challenge of transforming plastics from insulators into conductors lies in their microscopic structure. Polymers, the building blocks of plastics, are made of long chains of molecular units tangled into a disorderly mess. This tangled structure hinders the movement of heat carriers, causing them to get trapped within the polymeric knots.
Engineers at MIT have made significant progress in this area by stretching the disordered polymers into ultrathin, ordered chains. This innovative technique enables heat to travel more easily through the material, increasing its thermal conductivity. The resulting polymer thermal conductor can dissipate heat in one direction along the length of each polymer chain but struggles to transfer heat between chains due to weak Van der Waals forces.
To overcome this limitation, researchers like Dr. Yanfei Xu at MIT have focused on simultaneously engineering intramolecular and intermolecular forces. By manipulating these forces, they aim to achieve efficient heat transport along and between polymer chains, enhancing the material's overall thermal conductivity. This approach has led to the development of polymers with up to 10 times higher thermal conductivity than conventional polymers, offering new possibilities for heat dissipation in electronics.
While most thermally conductive plastic compounds exhibit 10 to 50 times higher conductivity than unfilled thermoplastics, some companies, such as Cool Polymers, have developed products with even more impressive conductivity. Their materials can achieve 100 to 500 times the conductivity of a base polymer, showcasing the significant advancements in this field. These breakthroughs in plastic thermal conductivity are revolutionizing the way we manage heat in electronics, lighting, automotive systems, and industrial products.
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MIT-engineered plastic could prevent electronics from overheating
Plastics are typically excellent insulators, meaning they efficiently trap heat. This is advantageous in products such as coffee cup sleeves. However, this insulating property is undesirable in plastic casings for electronics, as it can lead to overheating due to the trapped heat.
Engineers at MIT have developed a polymer thermal conductor—a plastic material that works as a heat conductor, dissipating heat rather than insulating it. This new form of plastic could prevent laptops, mobile phones, and other electronics from overheating. The polymer, which is lightweight and flexible, can conduct 10 times as much heat as most commercially used polymers.
The discovery and development of electrically conductive polymers have led to novel electronic applications such as flexible displays and wearable biosensors. Yanfei Xu, a postdoc in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, states:
> Our polymer can thermally conduct and remove heat much more efficiently. We believe polymers could be made into next-generation heat conductors for advanced thermal management applications, such as a self-cooling alternative to existing electronics casings.
The MIT team, led by Gang Chen, invented a method to create "ultradrawn nanofibers" from a standard polyethylene sample. The technique stretched disordered polymers into ultrathin, ordered chains, enabling heat to move easily through the material. The resulting polymer conducted 300 times as much heat as ordinary plastics. However, it could only dissipate heat in one direction, along the length of each polymer chain.
The team also produced a heat-conducting polymer known as polythiophene, a conjugated polymer commonly used in many electronic devices. They developed a new way to create a polymer conductor using oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD), where two vapors are injected into a chamber and interact to form a film.
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Plastic is a poor conductor of electricity
While most plastics are poor conductors of heat, certain plastics have higher levels of thermal conductivity than others. Synthetic polymers, for instance, can have high conductivity and act as electrical conductors. However, common plastics like polyurethane and polystyrene have lower thermal conductivity, making them ideal for household items.
At the microscopic level, polymers are formed by long chains of monomers, or molecular units, linked end-to-end. These chains are often tangled, making it difficult for heat carriers to move through, so they get trapped. This is why plastics are good insulators. However, researchers have attempted to turn these natural insulators into conductors. By stretching and ordering the polymer chains, engineers have developed a polymer thermal conductor that dissipates heat instead of insulating it.
Despite these advancements, plastics are generally considered poor conductors of electricity. Polymers are electrically insulating, which means they don't conduct electricity and can prevent short circuits in electronic devices. The conductive properties of plastics can be altered by adding iodine to the polymer, increasing its conductivity. Polyacetylene, for example, gained recognition as a conductor of electricity due to the addition of oxidants. However, this initially high conductivity level was reduced by its reactivity with atmospheric oxygen.
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Frequently asked questions
Plastic is generally considered an insulator. However, a team of engineers at MIT has developed a polymer thermal conductor that works as a heat conductor, dissipating heat rather than insulating it.
Plastic is a good insulator because its molecules are tightly bound together, making it difficult for heat and electricity to flow through.
Plastic is often used to cover electrical appliances as it does not conduct electricity. It is also used for dip moulding and dip coating due to its elasticity. Plastic cookware and dishes are also safe to use in the microwave as they don't get too hot.
A polymer thermal conductor has been developed to prevent laptops, mobile phones, and other electronics from overheating.
Yes, while plastics are generally not good conductors of heat, certain plastics have higher levels of thermal conductivity than others. For example, polyurethane and polystyrene, which are commonly used for household items, have lower levels of thermal conductivity.
