Molecular dynamics simulation of thermal conductivity of silicone rubber

Silicone rubber is widely used as a kind of thermal interface material (TIM) in electronic devices. However few studies have been carried out on the thermal conductivity mechanism of silicone rubber. This paper investigates the thermal conductivity mechanism by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) in three aspects:chain length, morphology, and temperature. It is found that the effect of chain length on thermal conductivity varies with morphologies. In crystalline state where the chains are aligned, the thermal conductivity increases apparently with the length of the silicone-oxygen chain,the thermal conductivity of 79 nm-long crystalline silicone rubber could reach 1.49 W/(m·K). The thermal conductivity of amorphous silicone rubber is less affected by the chain length. The temperature dependence of thermal conductivity of silicone rubbers with different morphologies is trivial. The phonon density of states (DOS) is calculated and analyzed. The results indicate that crystalline silicone rubber with aligned orientation has more low frequency phonons, longer phonon MFP, and shorter conducting path, which contribute to a larger thermal conductivity.