Thermal Conductivity of Polybutadiene Rubber from Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Measurements by the Heat Flow Meter Method.

Thermal conductivities of polybutadiene rubbers crosslinked by 2.4 and 2.8 phr of sulfur have been found to be functions of temperature via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the Green-Kubo method. From an analysis of the heat flux autocorrelation functions, it has been revealed that the dominant means of heat transport in rubbers is governed by deformations of polymeric chains. Thermal conductivities of rubber samples vulcanized by 2.4 and 2.8 phr of sulfur have been measured by the heat flow meter method between 0 ∘C and 60 ∘C at atmospheric pressure. The temperature dependencies of the thermal conductivities of rubbers and their glass transition temperatures derived from MD simulations are in good agreement with the literature and experimental data. Details are discussed in the paper.