Dependence of the thermal conductivity of a polymer chain on its tension

The heat transfer along a finite polyethylene macromolecule with fixed ends has been simulated. It has been shown that the thermal flux arising in the chain essentially depends on the distance between its ends. The thermal flux along the chain increases due to its stretching and decreases when its ends become closer to each other. There is a critical value for the approach of the ends at which the coil-globule transition begins. Upon a closer approach, a globule in the chain is formed and, upon a smaller approach, the chain always freely bends in space. It is at this critical approach of the ends that the tension in the chain and heat transfer along it are the weakest. Making the ends more remote or closer, one can change the thermal flux by more than two orders of magnitude. This effect is connected with the strong dependence of the morphology of the polymer chain on its tension. In nanotechnologies, such a polymer molecule with a variable distance between its fixed ends can be used as a regulated phonon resistor, i.e., as a phonon rheostat.