Combined Molecular Dynamics and DFT Simulation Study of the Molecular and Polymer Properties of a Catechol-Based Cyclic Oligomer of Polyether Ether Ketone

Non-Covalent Interactions in Polymers

Non-covalent interactions are one of the key topics in modern chemical science. These inter- and intramolecular weak interactions (e.g., hydrogen, halogen, and chalcogen bonds, stacking interactions and metallophilic contacts) have a significant effect on the properties of polymers. In this Special Issue, "Non-covalent interactions in polymers", we tried to collect fundamental and applied research manuscripts (original research articles and comprehensive review papers) focused on non-covalent interactions in polymer chemistry and related fields. The scope of the Special Issue is very broad: we welcome all the contributions that deal with the synthesis, structure, functionality and properties of polymer systems involving non-covalent interactions.

The Investigation of the Effect of Filler Sizes in 3D-BN Skeletons on Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy-Based Composites

Thermally conductive and electrically insulating materials have attracted much attention due to their applications in the field of microelectronics, but through-plane thermal conductivity of materials is still low at present. In this paper, a simple and environmentally friendly strategy is proposed to improve the through-plane thermal conductivity of epoxy composites using a 3D boron nitride (3D-BN) framework. In addition, the effect of filler sizes in 3D-BN skeletons on thermal conductivity was investigated. The epoxy composite with larger BN in lateral size showed a higher through-plane thermal conductivity of 2.01 W/m·K and maintained a low dielectric constant of 3.7 and a dielectric loss of 0.006 at 50 Hz, making it desirable for the application in microelectronic devices.

Computational Design for the Damping Characteristics of Poly(ether ether ketone)

To investigate the damping characteristics of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), various potential modifications of the molecular structure, including sulfonate groups, hydroxyl groups, amino groups, carboxyl groups, methyl groups, fluorines, and benzene rings, were considered. It was found that these functional groups can mediate both the storage and loss modulus of PEEK derivatives, and the loss factors of PEEK derivatives are sensitive to the content and type of functional groups, indicating an ideal designability of energy dissipation performance. The reciprocating process of H-bonds and C_π-H bonds breaking and reforming during material deformation and the available free volume in the material are critical to the energy dissipation capacities in polymers.