Thermal Conductivity of Protein-Based Materials: A Review

Abstract

Fibrous proteins such as silks have been used as textile and biomedical materials for decades due to their natural abundance, high flexibility, biocompatibility, and excellent mechanical properties. In addition, they also can avoid many problems related to traditional materials such as toxic chemical residues or brittleness. With the fast development of cutting-edge flexible materials and bioelectronics processing technologies, the market for biocompatible materials with extremely high or low thermal conductivity is growing rapidly. The thermal conductivity of protein films, which is usually on the order of 0.1 W/m·K, can be rather tunable as the value for stretched protein fibers can be substantially larger, outperforming that of many synthetic polymer materials. These findings indicate that the thermal conductivity and the heat transfer direction of protein-based materials can be finely controlled by manipulating their nano-scale structures. This review will focus on the structure of different fibrous proteins, such as silks, collagen and keratin, summarizing factors that can influence the thermal conductivity of protein-based materials and the different experimental methods used to measure their heat transfer properties.

Comparative Study of Silk-Based Magnetic Materials: Effect of Magnetic Particle Types on the Protein Structure and Biomaterial Properties

“…However, no third degradation peak (T d3 ) was observed around 600~700 °C for any of Co-SF samples. The first small degradation is mainly from the unstable part of silk proteins [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. BaM-SF samples showed a higher T d1 than that of the other two types of composites, suggesting that BaM particles were able to best protect silk materials.…”

Electrospun Silk-Boron Nitride Nanofibers with Tunable Structure and Properties

“…Many biosensors and bioelectronics also require temperature sensors or heat transfer components [22,23]. It was found that the thermal conductivity of silk can be improved by increasing the crystallinity of silk proteins, although it is still much lower than many inorganic materials [24][25][26]. On the other hand, boron nitride (BN) nanomaterials have excellent thermal stability, thermal conductivity, and stable chemical properties, and have long-term good insulation properties [27][28][29][30].…”

The Emergent Behaviour of Thermal Networks and Its Impact on the Thermal Conductivity of Heterogeneous Materials and Systems

“…Porosity fraction = 0.67 [32] Porosity fraction = 0.85 [33] Slope = 0.67 for reference Slope = 0.85 for reference Figure 7. Comparison of logarithmic mixing rule with experimental data of (a) packed beds [5,26] (b) rocks [29,30] and (c) high temperature porous ceramics [38,39].…”

“…Interest in the thermal characteristics of multi-phase and composite materials has continued to grow, as the need for such materials across a broad spectrum of areas has increased; sectors of interest include aerospace, packaging, electronics, construction and processing [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Composites with high levels of thermal conductivity are attractive for applications related to heat dissipation and heat sinks [10], such as high-power electronics and brake friction linings, and low conductivity composites are necessary for insulation and thermal protection.…”