In
this work, Ni@GNP nanohybrids fabricated via an in situ reduction
method were incorporated into polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to prepare
PMMA/Ni@GNP nanocomposites via solution blending and hot-pressing.
The Ni nanoparticles with an average diameter of 70–80 nm were
observed to successfully grow on the GNP surface via SEM and TEM.
Both thermally conductive and microwave absorbing properties of the
prepared composites were intensively investigated. A reflection loss
test experimentally suggested that the PMMA/Ni@GNP composites showed
a good microwave absorbing property, among which the composite containing
30 wt % Ni@GNP displayed the best microwave absorption performance
(with a value of −30 dB for RL
min in the C band). The thermal conduction behavior of the composites
was jointly studied by infrared thermal imaging (ITI) and enthalpy
transformation method together with a four-parameter model. The average
heating rate during an initial stage was obviously found to increase
from 65.4 to 103.2 °C/min, indicating that a well-defined heat
conduction network gradually formed in the composites, which exerted
positive influence on heat conduction. The composites generally bore
perfect thermal conductivities (e.g., with a maximum in-plane thermal
conductivity of 9.02 W/m·K and a maximum out-of-plane value of
1.29 W/m·K), and the variations of thermal conductivity versus
filler loading should be attributed to the construction of an anisotropically
thermally conductive network in the composites. The PMMA/Ni@GNP composites
with desirable microwave absorption and thermal conductivity would
find potential applications in 5G communication devices.