CHARACTERIZATION OF THE IN-PLANE AND CROSS-PLANE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF POLYMER NANOFIBER THIN FILM UTILIZING THE 3-OMEGA METHOD

Author

John P. Carlin, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Date of Award

2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Department

Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering

First Advisor

Carl Rousseau

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of Polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofiber thin films produced via an electrospinning method has been studied using the 3ω method. The production process utilized to produce the nanofibers used in this work were selected from a range of tested production processes with preference given to process parameters that produced consistently sized polymer nanofibers, nanofibers devoid of defects, and parameters that increased the general alignment of the resulting PCL nanofiber thin film. The effect of the void portion of a PCL nanofiber thin film is observed with increasing void percentange inversely affecting the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofiber thin film in both the in-planer and crossplaner directions, but increasing the portion of heat energy conducted along the in-planer direction. The data in this work concludes the thermal conductivity of the nanofibers tested is 20% higher in the in-planer direction than in the cross-planer direction, with the highest recorded thermal conductivity being 4.82 Wm^-1K^-1.

Recommended Citation

Carlin, John P., "CHARACTERIZATION OF THE IN-PLANE AND CROSS-PLANE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF POLYMER NANOFIBER THIN FILM UTILIZING THE 3-OMEGA METHOD" (2019). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 1501.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1501