Thermo-Electric Properties of Poly(lactic) Acid Filled with Carbon-Based Particles: Experimental and Simulation Study

Polymer composites filled with high thermal and electrical conductivity nanofillers show enhanced thermo-electric properties which encourage their use in heat transfer applications. In the present study, nanocomposites based on polylactic acid (PLA) containing up to 9 wt% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (trade name: N7000) and graphene nanoplates (trade name: TNIGNP) are produced via melt compounding and then morphologically, electrically, and thermally investigated. The results are correlated to the different characteristic of the fillers and their interaction with the PLA. At the highest investigated filler concentration, an electrical conductivity of about 2 S m(-1) and a thermal conductivity of 0.725 W m(-1) K-1 are measured respectively for nanocomposites based on N7000 and TNIGNP, which are decisively higher than the values measured for unfilled PLA (5.9 x center dot 10(-2) S m(-1) and 0.205 W m(-1) K-1). Moreover, multiphysics simulations are performed on the best performing nanocomposites for evaluating their thermo-electric properties when an electrical heating or a direct heat flux are applied.