Controlling Heat Transfer Through π-Conjugated Molecules

The design of efficient molecular devices that convert heat into electricity requires an understanding of how to control electrical and thermal conductance. While the electrical conductance of π-conjugated systems has been widely studied, its thermal counterpart is much less explored. In this work, we use pump-probe infrared spectroscopy and theoretical modelling to study heat transport in unsubstituted and alkyl chain-substituted π-conjugated fluorenyl derivatives. Our findings indicate that decoration with alkyl chains increases both the rate of intramolecular and intermolecular heat transport by increasing the number of pathways for heat propagation and dissipation, respectively. These results provide design rules for controlling thermal conductance in conjugated molecular systems.