Thermal conductivity the list of thermal conductivities. These should be considered approximate due to the uncertainties related to material definitions. High energy generation rates within electronics or turbines require the use of materials with high thermal conductivity such as copper "(see: Copper in heat exchangers)", aluminium, and silver. On the other hand, materials with low thermal conductance, such as polystyrene foam and fire brick, are used in building construction or in furnaces in an effort to slow the flow of heat, i.e. for insulation purposes. The reciprocal of thermal conductivity is "thermal resistivity", usually expressed in kelvin-meters per watt (K⋅m⋅W). For a
Thermal conductivity electrical conductivity decreases with increasing temperature and thus the product of the two, the thermal conductivity, stays approximately constant. However, as temperatures approach absolute zero, the thermal conductivity decreases sharply. In alloys the change in electrical conductivity is usually smaller and thus thermal conductivity increases with temperature, often proportionally to temperature. Many pure metals have a peak thermal conductivity between 2 K and 10 K. On the other hand, heat conductivity in nonmetals is mainly due to lattice vibrations (phonons). Except for high quality crystals at low temperatures, the phonon mean free path is not reduced significantly at higher temperatures.