Enhancement of thermal interface material properties using carbon nanotubes through simple electrophoretic deposition method

Abstract

The industrial revolution development of electronic technologies has turned the electronic system into a complicated integration of high-power density and smart design. The complex integrated design has contributed to the excessive heat generation in electronic devices. Consequently, heat management devices have become crucial in prolonging the lives of devices and components and maintaining their optimal performance. Therefore, the passive heat management treatment through thermal interface materials (TIMs) in the devices is among the best options to remove heat from electronic devices. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with high-thermal conductivity was employed in this study for TIM development by using the simple electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. The CNTs were synthesized and purified before TIM development. Several analyses, including transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared, were conducted. Analysis results showed that only 0.03 wt% was retained and carbon content increased up to 97.84% after purification. The purified CNTs were dissolved in a suspension medium with a ratio of 0.5 mg/mL to achieve suspension stability, and a Zetasizer was used for verification. The following three operating parameters of EPD were investigated: (a) range of applied voltage (100-200 V), (b) deposition time (1-20 min), and (c) gap between electrodes (10-20 mm). On the basis of the characterization results, the optimum process condition of EPD was achieved at 175 V, 10 minutes, and 10 mm with 1.6 mg of CNT deposition and 14.14 μm of CNT thickness. The maximum thickness of deposited CNTs was 56.95 μm, producing 27.08 W/mÁK and 2.09 mm 2 /s of thermal conductivity and diffusivity, respectively. These results indicate the high potential of CNTs in facilitating efficient heat removal in TIM fabrication. K E Y W O R D Scarbon nanotubes, electrophoretic deposition, heat spreader, thermal interface materials

A review of thermal interface material fabrication method toward enhancing heat dissipation

“…65,66 The researcher has an academic race to study this material specifically for TIMs applications. CNTs 54,[67][68][69] and graphene 3,[55][56][57][58] are the most popular materials with excellent thermal conductivity (more than 6000 W/mK) and mechanical properties compared with greases, 59 PCM, 60,61 gels, adhesive 62,63 and metal solder. 64 The success of TIMs performance also relies on the fabrication method.…”