A Review of Polymer Composites Based on Carbon Fillers for Thermal Management Applications: Design, Preparation, and Properties

Abstract

With the development of microelectronic devices having miniaturized and integrated electronic components, an efficient thermal management system with lightweight materials, which have outstanding thermal conductivity and processability, is becoming increasingly important. Recently, the use of polymer-based thermal management systems has attracted much interest due to the intrinsic excellent properties of the polymer, such as the high flexibility, low cost, electrical insulation, and excellent processability. However, most polymers possess low thermal conductivity, which limits the thermal management applications of them. To address the low thermal conduction of the polymer materials, many kinds of thermally conductive fillers have been studied, and the carbon-based polymer composite is regarded as one of the most promising materials for the thermal management of the electric and electronic devices. In addition, the next generation electronic devices require composite materials with various additional functions such as flexibility, low density, electrical insulation, and oriented heat conduction, as well as ultrahigh thermal conductivity. In this review, we introduce the latest papers on thermally conductive polymer composites based on carbon fillers with sophisticated structures to meet the above requirements. The topic of this review paper consists of the following four contents. First, we introduce the design of a continuous three-dimensional network structure of carbon fillers to reduce the thermal resistance between the filler–matrix interface and individual filler particles. Second, we discuss various methods of suppressing the electrical conductivity of carbon fillers in order to manufacture the polymer composites that meet both the electrical insulation and thermal conductivity. Third, we describe a strategy for the vertical alignment of carbon fillers to improve the through-plane thermal conductivity of the polymer composite. Finally, we briefly mention the durability of the thermal conductivity performance of the carbon-based composites. This review presents key technologies for a thermal management system of next-generation electronic devices.

Evaluation of a Thermal Consolidation Process for the Production of Enhanced Technical Fabrics

“…The material properties used for the simulation were obtained from the material manufacturers and the literature [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Table 2 summarizes the material data used for simulations.…”

3D Printing Processability of a Thermally Conductive Compound Based on Carbon Nanofiller-Modified Thermoplastic Polyamide 12

“…Conventional materials used for heat transfer applications, such as copper and aluminium, have the advantage of higher thermal conductivity but with higher cost and considerable weight. Low-cost thermoplastic composites with ease of manufacturability and recyclability are alternatives for such applications, although with lower thermal conductivity in comparison to the metallic materials [ 1 , 2 ]. The conduction of thermal energy in a polymer is achieved via a phonon transfer process rather than through vibration in the pure crystalline materials.…”

Fabrication of Al2O3/ZnO and Al2O3/Cu Reinforced Silicone Rubber Composite Pads for Thermal Interface Materials

“…Irregular zinc oxide powder (60 W/m·K) and spherical copper powder (400 W/m·K) were used as small ceramic and metal fillers, respectively, because of their higher thermal conductivity than aluminum oxide powder (30 W/m·K). This systematical study of thermal conductivity of rubbery composite pads with heterogeneous fillers will expedite scientific understandings and industrial applications of thermal interface materials, which can contribute to enhancing the performance and speed of electronic devices and batteries by preventing thermal malfunction and thermal throttling [ 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”