The scope of this article is to evaluate the possibility of using waste date palm wood in polymer matrices to obtain a low thermal conductivity biocomposite material in view to reduce heat losses in buildings. Experimental and numerical investigation of effective thermal conductivity properties of composites were carried out using guarded hot plate method and 3D finite element modeling. Water absorption of composites materials was also investigated. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of the polymer-based materials decreases with increasing date palm fiber concentration and that the size of fillers has no significant effect. The water test revealed that the composites have a strong tendency to absorb water, particularly with increasing filler contents. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:1712-1719

The effective thermal conductivity of several series of polymer composite materials constituting two polymeric matrixes: ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) filled with micrometric particles of barium titanate (BaTiO3) and polypropylene (PP) filled with copper (Cu) particles were investigated. The finite-element software COMSOL 3.5a was used to model the thermal heat transport for an elementary cell in order to estimate the effective thermal conductivity of the composites. The effect of the filler concentrations and the nature of the particles on the effective thermal conductivity were also numerically investigated. The present work compares the numerically calculated and the measured thermal conductivities for various samples.

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As one of the most important field of current nanoscience, the polymer nanocomposites is a promising and efficient way for new generation materials with high performances and multifunctionalities. The incorporating of nanofillers in a polymer matrix may improve mechanical, thermal, electrical or dielectric properties of the composites. The current paper focuses on the thermal conductivity of polymer/carbon nanotube composites. These last, are considered to be ideal candidates for the development of nanocomposite materials. Clarifying the role of the factors, influencing the properties of the composites, enable us to choose the suitable processing method for obtaining the composites and to improve the different properties of these systems. This article reviews the dependence of thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes on the tube size and the effect of interface on the equivalent property. The relationship between the thermal conductivity and the nanostructure of composites are discussed.

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