The C-Therm Trident Thermal Conductivity Instrument provides a fast and easy way to measure thermal conductivity of plastics and polymers.
Polymers are an important part of everyday life, and each day more research is being put in to develop new, more versatile, novel polymers. Testing the thermal conductivity of these polymers is paramount to determining their thermal performance under various conditions.
Both the Modified Transient Plane Source (MTPS) and Transient Plane Source (TPS) are both able to rapidly and accurately measure the thermal conductivity of polymers under a variety of environmental conditions. Meanwhile, the Transient Line Source (TLS) is able to measure the thermal conductivity of polymer melts.
The thermal conductivities of common unfilled plastics such as teflon, PVC, and ABS can be found below.
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
|