Isochoric thermal conductivity of solid furan

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of solid furan samples with different densities has been measured under isochoric conditions in the high-temperature orientationally-disordered phase I. Our isochoric data show a gradual increase of ΛV with temperature, while the isobaric thermal conductivity decreases over this temperature range. This effect shows up more clearly in furan, where the atoms in the ring plane are not equivalent, than in the previously studied C6H6 and C6H12. The increase of ΛV with temperature can be attributed to weakening of the translational-orientational interaction, which in turn leads to reduced phonon scattering on rotational excitations. The experimental data are described in terms of a modified Debye model of thermal conductivity with heat transfer by both low-frequency phonons and “diffuse” modes.