Liquid crystalline texture and hydrogen bond on the thermal conductivities of intrinsic thermal conductive polymer films

Abstract Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films comprising polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and liquid crystal monomer (LCM) were successfully obtained by the method of solution casting & thermal compressing. LCM was distributed orderly in PVA matrix by hydrogen bond interaction, to form PVA-LCM interpenetrating-layered networks. When the mass fraction of LCM was up to 35 wt%, the corresponding in-plane thermal conductivity coefficient (λ//) of PDLC film was significantly increased to 1.41 W m−1 K−1, about 10.8 times that of neat PVA (0.13 W m−1 K−1). High intrinsic λ// values of PDLC films were mainly attributed to the formed microscopic-ordered structures from ordered stacking of LCM, ordered arrangement of PVA chains, and their hydrogen bond interaction. This work would offer a new way to design and prepare novel intrinsic high thermal conductive polymers.