Heat transfer in polyolefin foams

Abstract

This chapter is dedicated to the study of heat transfer in polyolefin-based foams, particularly thermal conductivity, as a function of their structure and chemical composition. A small review of the main experimental techniques used to measure the thermal conductivity of these materials is also given, focusing on the transient plane source method (TPS), as well as different theoretical models commonly used for estimating its value. Alongside cellular structure (cell size, anisotropy, etc) and composition considerations, particular importance is given to the analysis of the presence of micrometric and nanometric-sized fillers in the resulting cellular composite thermal properties. This is a novel research field of particular interest, thought to extend the application range of these lightweight materials by tailoring their conductivity.