Controlling the Temperature Distribution of 3D Printed All-PE Material

Ongoing miniaturization and weight reduction in portable electronic devices present a growing challenge for thermal management. Efficient heat dissipation is crucial to prevent malfunctions and early failure. This problem is typically tackled by incorporating highly conducting fillers into lightweight polymers. However, the thermal resistance between the filler and matrix often requires high filler loadings, leading to increased costs, compromised weight advantages, and reduced processability.¹ Moreover, recycling of multi-material composites is complex, expensive and energy-consuming.² All-PE composite represents a single-material alternative, comprising HDPE wax, HDPE and UHMWPE. Exposure to shear force and extensional flow orients the UHMWPE, leading to formation of self-reinforcing fiber-like shish-kebab nanostructures.³ The continuous shish crystals are expected to efficiently conduct heat along the fiber axis, which increases the thermal conductivity in that direction. 3D printing through fused filament fabrication applies the necessary forces for the shish-kebab formation and also allows precise control over the orientation of the fibrous structures.³ Here, we demonstrate how the printing parameters influence the anisotropic thermal diffusivity, which is measured using lock-in thermography on thin films. The findings are used to provide the first example of digitally defined control of temperature distributions in 3D-printed all-PE specimens.⁴ Therefore, all-PE material implies a great potential for directing heat without the requirement for multiple materials or multi-material composites.<br/> <br/>1. S. Jasmee, G. Omar, S. S. C. Othaman, N. A. Masripan and H. A. Hamid, <i>Polym. Compos.</i>, 2021, <b>42</b>, 2629-2652.<br/>2. G. Chatziparaskeva, I. Papamichael, I. Voukkali, P. Loizia, G. Sourkouni, C. Argirusis and A. A. Zorpas, <i>Microplastics</i>, 2022, <b>1</b>, 377-392.<br/>3. C. G. Schirmeister, T. Hees, O. Dolynchuk, E. H. Licht, T. Thurn-Albrecht and R. Muelhaupt, <i>ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.</i>, 2021, <b>3</b>, 1675-1686.<br/>4. I. Klein, T. Tran, R. Reiser, M. Theis, S. Rosenfeldt, M. Schöttle, C. Schirmeister, P. Bösecke, S. Rettinger, R. Mülhaupt and M. Retsch,<i> Journal of Materials Chemistry A</i>, 2023, <b>11</b>, 22492-22502.