Re: [Phys-l] thermal conducting plastic(s?)

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> MIT scientists transform polyethylene into a heat-conducting material
>
> Now is polaroid (H-sheet) also anisotropically conducting?
>
> Polaroid film was in its original form an arrangement of many microscopic herapathite crystals. Its later H-sheet form is rather similar to the wire-grid polarizer. It is made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) plastic with an iodine doping. Stretching of the sheet during manufacture ensures that the PVA chains are aligned in one particular direction. /snip/
> bc
>   
Linear electrical conductivity in doped anisotropic plastic films has 
been reported for some years.
It is noticed that the more conductive the material, the more silvery or 
metallic it looks.
It is not a long hop from there to recall that not only are the 
equations of thermal and
electrical conductivity similar, but both material properties seem to 
vary in common, as a rule.

So it's easy to suppose that such a silvery plastic may well conduct 
heat....

Brian W