Effect of Aromatic/Aliphatic Structure and Cross-Linking Density on the Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy Resins

High thermal conductivity polymers are in great demand as thermal management materials. However, the thermal conductivity of polymers is typically low, ∼0.2 W/(m K), and a predictive understanding of the relationship between the thermal conductivity and the molecular structure of polymers is not yet established. In this work, 14 epoxy resin thermosets are synthesized from one aliphatic epoxide and one aromatic epoxide with seven amine hardeners....