Cellulose and other compounds produced from plants often provide excellent insulation. On the contrary, new materials constructed from nanoscale cellulose fibers demonstrate high thermal conductivity. Therefore, it can be applied to fields where synthetic polymer materials have been used so far. The researchers found that focusing on cellulose-based materials is more environmentally friendly than polymers, which may lead to the application of greener technologies when thermal conductivity is required.
Cellulose is a key component of plant cell walls and is the reason why trees can grow to such heights. However, the secret to the material’s strength lies in the overlapping nanoscopic fibers. In recent years, many commercial products use cellulose nanofiber (CNF) materials. Its strength and durability make it an excellent alternative to polymer-based materials such as plastics, which can be harmful to the environment. But for the first time, a research team led by Professor Junichiro Shiomi of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Engineering has investigated the previously unknown thermal properties of his CNFs. “When a plant-based material such as cellulose or woody biomass is used in an application, it usually employs mechanical or thermal insulation properties,” says Shiomi. “However, when we investigated the thermal properties of threads made from CNF, we found that they exhibited a different kind of thermal behavior, heat conduction, which is very important, about 100 times higher than typical woody biomass or cellulose paper. I understand.”
CNF thread conducts heat well due to its manufacturing method. Cellulose fibers in nature are very disorganized, but through a process called flow focusing, cellulose fibers are combined in the same direction to create CNF. Heat is more easily dissipated in a more disordered structure, whereas fibers are tightly bound and aligned bundles. “Our main challenge was how to measure the thermal conductivity of such small physical samples very accurately,” said Shiomi. “To this end, we turned to a technique called T-type thermal conductivity measurements, which allows us to measure the thermal conductivity of rod-shaped CNF yarn samples that are only micrometers (a micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter) in diameter. We were able to measure it..But our next step is to do an accurate thermal test on a two-dimensional textile-like sample.”
Shiomi and his team hope that research and future research into the use of CNFs as thermally conductive materials will provide engineers with alternatives to environmentally harmful polymers. In applications where heat transfer is critical, such as certain electronic and computing components, the biodegradability of CNF and other plant-based materials can greatly reduce the impact of discarded electronics and e-waste. I can do it. (Ani)
(This article is not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
