The C-Therm Trident Thermal Conductivity Instrument provides a fast and easy way to measure thermal conductivity of plastics and polymers.
The thermal conductivities of common unfilled plastics such as teflon, PVC, and ABS can be found below. In addition to our Trident instrument, we also offer contract testing for your sample.
Thermal Conductivity of Unfilled Plastics (W/mK)1
|
Plastic Type
|
Commercial Name
|
Thermal Conductivity (W/mK
|
|
Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene
|
ABS
|
0.14 – 0.21
|
|
Acetal
|
Delrin
|
0.23 – 0.36
|
|
Cellulose acetate
|
CA
|
0.16 – 0.36
|
|
Diallyl phthalate
|
Dapon
|
0.31
|
|
Epoxy
|
|
0.19
|
|
Ethylcellulose
|
|
0.23
|
|
Ethylvinylacetate
|
|
0.08
|
|
Phenolic
|
|
0.17
|
|
Polyamide
|
Nylon 6-11-12-66
|
0.24 – 0.3
|
|
Polyaramide
|
Kevlar, Nomex fibers
|
0.04 – 0.13
|
|
Polycarbonate
|
PC
|
0.19 – 0.22
|
|
Polytetrafluorethylene
|
PTFE, Teflon
|
0.25
|
|
Polyethylene terephthalate
|
|
0.15 – 0.4
|
|
Polyethylene L
|
Low density
|
0.33
|
|
Polyethylene HD
|
High density
|
0.45 – 0.52
|
|
Polyimide
|
Kapton
|
0.10 – 0.35
|
|
Polymethylmethacrylate
|
PMMA, Acrylic, Perspex, Plexiglass
|
0.17 – 0.19
|
|
Polyphenylene oxide
|
PPO, Noryl
|
0.22
|
|
Polypropylene
|
PP
|
0.1 – 0.22
|
|
Polystyrene
|
PS
|
0.1 – 0.13
|
|
Polysulfone
|
|
0.26
|
|
Polyurethane
|
PUR
|
0.29
|
|
Polyvinylchloride
|
PVC
|
0.12 – 0.25
|
|
Polyvinylidene fluoride
|
Kynan
|
0.1 – 0.25
|
All values in the table are defined at room temperature. As a rule-of-thumb, the thermal conductivity increases with a few percent in the range 0-100°C. Only below very low temperatures (typically 40K), plastics show a clear decrease. Fillers such as silver, copper, CNTs etc. typically cause a sharp increase in the thermal conductivity of a polymer composite.
1Source: Electronics Cooling – Design, Materials, Compounds, Adhesives, Substrates, Number 2, Technial Data, Volume 7