Conventionally, organic materials are thought to be thermally insulating. However, it has been preliminarily demonstrated experimentally and computationally that thermal conductivities rivaling those of metals are available when the higher-order structure of polymers can be sufficiently regulated. We are creating thermally conductive polymers by engaging this multidimensional synthetic challenge. We approach this challenge by designing molecules and processing strategies that yield structurally well-defined macromolecular materials. This material goal often requires us to develop a mechanistic understanding of polymerization. This work is funded by the Army Research Office. 

Key Papers on Thermally Conductive Polymers

Intrinsically thermally conductive polymers, Roy et al., Mater. Horiz. 2024, 11, 3267-3286

A few-layer covalent network of fullerenes, Meirzadeh et al. Nature, 2023, 613, 71-76

Highly thermally conductive, ultra-low-k two-dimensional covalent organic framework dielectric layers, United States Patent, US20240092809A1

Key Papers on 2D Polymer Formation

Taming Two-Dimensional Polymerization by a Machine-Learning Discovered Crystallization Model, Tian et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202408937

Reproducibility challenges in activating two-dimensional polymers and three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks, Roy et al., Comm. Mater. 2024, 5, 102

Growth of two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks on substrates: insight from microsecond atomistic simulations, Wang et al., Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 17629-17641