The thermal and mechanical properties of graphite foam/epoxy resin composites

A series of epoxy resin (EP) filled graphite foam (GF) composites were prepared to explore a new material with good heat transfer property. The effects of the mass fraction of EP and the network structure of GFs on the thermal diffusivity and the compression strength of the composites were investigated. The thermal diffusivity of the GF/EP composite with EP mass fraction of 91.45% was raised to 6.541 mm²/s, which was 45.7 times higher than the pure EP. The thermal conductivity reached to 14.67 W/(m K), which was 43.1 times higher than the pure EP. The compression strength of the GF/EP increased 55% above the value of pure EP. In addition, the thermal diffusivity of GF/EP increased with the decrease of the mass fraction of EP. A model was formulated to calculate the pressure needed for a mass fraction of EP.     

High conductive ethylene vinyl acetate composites filled with reduced graphene oxide and polyaniline

A conductive network composed of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) planes and polyaniline (PANI) chains was designed and fabricated by in situ polymerization of aniline monomer on the RGO planes. It was further used for fabrication of conductive composites with a polymer matrix–ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). The composites achieve improved conductivity at a low filler loading although the host polymer–EVA–is of insulator. For instance, compared to the pure EVA polymer, the conductivity of the composite filled with 4.0 wt.% RGO and 8.0 wt.% PANI increases from 1.2 × 10^?14 S cm^?1 to 1.07 × 10^?1 S cm^?1. In addition, thermal stability of the composites is also enhanced by the filler loading.     

Interfacial microstructure and its effect on thermal conductivity of SiCp/Cu composites

Thermal conductivity of SiCp/Cu composites was usually far below the expectation, which is usually attributed to the low real thermal conductivity of matrix. In the present work, highly pure Cu matrix composites reinforced with acid washed SiC particles were prepared by the pressure infiltration method. The interfacial microstructure of SiCp/Cu composites was characterized by layered interfacial products, including un-reacted SiC particles, a Cu–Si layer, a polycrystalline C layer and Cu–Si matrix. However, no Cu₃Si was found in the present work, which is evidence for the hypothesis that the formation of Cu₃Si phase in SiC/Cu system might be related to the alloying elements in Cu matrix and residual Si in SiC particles. The thermal conductivity of SiCp/Cu composites was slightly increased with the particle size from 69.9 to 78.6 W/(m K). Due to high density defects, the real thermal conductivity of Cu matrix calculated by H–J model was only about 70 W/(m K). The significant decrease in thermal conductivity of Cu matrix is an important factor for the low thermal conductivity of SiCp/Cu composites. However, even considered the significant decrease of thermal conductivity of Cu matrix, theoretical values of SiCp/Cu composites calculated by H–J model were still higher than the experimental results. Therefore, an ideal particle was introduced in the present work to evaluate the effect of interfacial thermal resistance. The reverse-deduced effective thermal conductivities of ideal particles according to H–J model was about 80 W/(m K). Therefore, severe interfacial reaction in SiCp/Cu composites also leads to the low thermal conductivity of SiCp/Cu composites.     

High thermal conductivity of flexible polymer composites due to synergistic effect of multilayer graphene flakes and graphene foam

Research on flexible thermal interface materials (TIMs) has shown that the interconnected network of graphene foam (GF) offers effective paths of heat transportation. In this work, a variant amount of multilayer graphene flakes (MGFs) was added into 0.2 vol% GF/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite. A remarkable synergistic effect between MGF and GF in improving thermal conductivity of polymer composites is achieved. With 2.7 vol% MGFs, the thermal conductivity of MGF/GF/PDMS composite reaches 1.08 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, which is 80%, 184% and 440% higher than that of 2.7 vol% MGF/PDMS, GF/PDMS composites and pure PDMS, respectively. The MGF/GF/PDMS composite also shows superior thermal stability. The addition of MGFs and GF decreases slightly the elongation at break, but observably increases the Young’s modulus and tensile strength of composites compared with pure PDMS. The good performance of MGF/GF/PDMS composite makes it a good TIM for possible application in thermal management of electronics.     

Enhanced conductivity behavior of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hybrid composites containing exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets and carbon nanotubes

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hybrid composites consisting of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnPs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes functionalized with hydroxyl groups (MWCNTs-OH) were fabricated, and the effects of the xGnP/MWCNT-OH ratio on the thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hybrid composites were investigated. With the total filler content fixed at 4 wt%, a hybrid composite consisting of 75% × GnP/25% MWCNT-OH showed the highest thermal conductivity (0.392 W/m K) and electrical conductivity (1.24 × 10⁻³ S/m), which significantly exceeded the values shown by either of the respective single filler composites. The increased thermal and electrical conductivity found when both fillers are used in combination is attributed to the synergistic effect between the fillers that forms an interconnected hybrid network. In contrast, the various different combinations of the fillers only showed a modest effect on the mechanical behavior, thermal stability, and thermal expansion of the PDMS composite.     

Thermal conductivity of polystyrene–aluminum nitride composite

The thermal conductivity of polymer composites having a matrix of polystyrene (PS) containing aluminum nitride (AlN) reinforcement has been investigated under a special dispersion state of filler in the composites: aluminum nitride filler particles surrounding polystyrene matrix particles. Data for the thermal conductivity of the composites are discussed as a function of composition parameters (aluminum nitride concentration, polystyrene particle size) and temperature. It is found that the thermal conductivity of composites is higher for a polystyrene particle size of 2 mm than that for a particle size of 0.15 mm. The thermal conductivity of the composite is five times that of pure polystyrene at about 20% volume fraction of AlN for the composite containing 2 mm polystyrene particle size. The relationship between thermal conductivity of composites and AlN filler concentrations has been compared with the predictions of two theoretical models from the literature.     

Enhanced thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of Al/β-SiCw/PVDF composites

Polymeric composites with high thermal conductivity, high dielectric permittivity but low dissipation factor have wide important applications in electronic and electrical industry. In this study, three phases composites consisting of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), Al nanoparticles and β-silicon carbide whiskers (β-SiC_w) were prepared. The thermal conductivity, morphological and dielectric properties of the composites were investigated. The results indicate that the addition of 12 vol% β-SiC_w not only improves the thermal conductivity of Al/PVDF from 1.57 to 2.1 W/m K, but also remarkably increases the dielectric constant from 46 to 330 at 100 Hz, whereas the dielectric loss of the composites still remain at relatively low levels similar to that of Al/PVDF at a wider frequency range from 10⁻¹ Hz to 10⁷ Hz. With further increasing the β-SiC_w loading to 20 vol%, the thermal conductivity and dielectric constant of the composites continue to increase, whereas both the dielectric loss and conductivity also rise rapidly.     

Thermal and mechanical properties of waste grass broom fiber-reinforced polyester composites

The main focus of this study is to utilize waste grass broom natural fibers as reinforcement and polyester resin as matrix for making partially biodegradable green composites. Thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and thermal diffusivity of composites were investigated as a function of fiber content and temperature. The waste grass broom fiber has a tensile strength of 297.58 MPa, modulus of 18.28 GPa, and an effective density of 864 kg/m³. The volume fraction of fibers in the composites was varied from 0.163 to 0.358. Thermal conductivity of unidirectional composites was investigated experimentally by a guarded heat flow meter method. The results show that the thermal conductivity of composite decreased with increase in fiber content and the quite opposite trend was observed with respect to temperature. Moreover, the experimental results of thermal conductivity at different volume fractions were compared with two theoretical models. The specific heat capacity of the composite as measured by differential scanning calorimeter showed similar trend as that of the thermal conductivity. The variation in thermal diffusivity with respect to volume fraction of fiber and temperature was not so significant.The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the composites showed a maximum improvement of 222% and 173%, respectively over pure matrix. The work of fracture of the composites with maximum volume fraction of fibers was found to be 296 Jm⁻¹.     

Study on thermal properties of graphene foam/graphene sheets filled polymer composites

The polymer composites composed of graphene foam (GF), graphene sheets (GSs) and pliable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were fabricated and their thermal properties were investigated. Due to the unique interconnected structure of GF, the thermal conductivity of GF/PDMS composite reaches 0.56 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, which is about 300% that of pure PDMS, and 20% higher than that of GS/PDMS composite with the same graphene loading of 0.7 wt%. Its coefficient of thermal expansion is (80–137) × 10⁻⁶/K within 25–150 °C, much lower than those of GS/PDMS composite and pure PDMS. In addition, it also shows superior thermal and dimensional stability. All above results demonstrate that the GF/PDMS composite is a good candidate for thermal interface materials, which could be applied in the thermal management of electronic devices, etc.     

Tailoring of thermal and dielectric properties of LDPE-matrix composites by the volume fraction,density, and surface modification of hollow glass microsphere filler

Hollow glass microsphere (HGM) filled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites were prepared, and the effects of density, content, and surface modification of HGM on the thermal and dielectric properties of the composites were investigated. It is found that the thermal conductivity of the composites decreases with increasing HGM content or decreasing HGM density. At the same HGM content and density, the composites filled with suitable amount of silane coupling agent (KH570) modified HGM exhibit higher thermal conductivity than unmodified-HGM filled composites. The dielectric constant at 1 MHz of the composites also decreases with increasing HGM content or decreasing HGM density, but their dielectric loss increases with increasing HGM content or increasing HGM density. By modifying the surface of HGM with suitable amount of KH570, the dielectric constant and loss at 1 MHz of the composites can be decreased at the same time. The results of microwave dielectric properties of the composites indicate that the dielectric constant decreases with increasing HGM content or decreasing HGM density, the quality factor (Q × f) decreases with increasing HGM content or increasing HGM density, but both dielectric constant and quality factor are slightly affected by the surface modification of HGM. Due to lower intrinsic thermal conductivity and dielectric constant but higher dielectric loss of HGM than LDPE, the thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of the composites can be controlled with adding HGM and varying its volume fraction. The surface modification of HGM improves the interface contact between HGM and LDPE in the composites, which is confirmed by the SEM observation, and thus the heat conduction and dielectric properties at low frequency are improved. Based on calculated thermal conductivity and dielectric constant of HGM, the experimental trends of thermal conductivity and dielectric constant at 1 MHz of the composites are analyzed by using different models, including typical models for particles-filled composites and special models developed for hollow microsphere filled composites. The results from suitable models show close correlation with the experimental values.     

Hierarchical composites of conductivity controllable polyaniline layers on the exfoliated graphite for dielectric application

Hierarchical composites of polyaniline fibers on the surface of exfoliated graphite were synthesized by chemical oxidation method. The conductivity of polyaniline fibers was controlled by doping and dedoping procedures. The morphology, structure and chemical character of doped and dedoped hierarchical composites were systemically investigated by SEM, TEM, XRD, FT-IR, XPS and conductivity measurement. After dedoping procedure, polyaniline/exfoliated graphite composites were used to improve dielectric property of the electroactive polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride). The dielectric constant and loss tangent of composites were 17 and 0.06 (10³ Hz) when the polyaniline/exfoliated graphite loading was 3 wt%. Of great interest was that the dielectric loss tangent of composites showed inherent low loss of poly(vinylidene fluoride) because insulating polyaniline fibers on the surface of exfoliated graphite effectively prevented direct contact of exfoliated graphite flakes in poly(vinylidene fluoride) matrix.     

Morphology and thermal conductivity of polyacrylate composites containing aluminum/multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Polyacrylate composites with various fillers such as multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT), aluminum flake (Al-flake), aluminum powders and Al–CNT were prepared by a ball milling. The thermal decomposition temperature increased by as much as 64 °C for polyacrylate/Al-flake 70 wt% composite compared to polyacrylate. The thermal conductivity of polyacrylate/Al–CNT composites increased from 0.50 to 1.67 W/m K as the Al–CNT content increases from 50 to 80 wt%. The thermal conductivity of the composite sheet increases with the sheet thickness. At the given filler concentration (90 wt%), the composite filled with aluminum powder of 13 μm has a higher thermal conductivity than the one filled 3 μm powder, and the composite filled with mixture of two powders showed a synergistic effect on the thermal conductivity. The morphology indicates that the dispersion of CNT in the polyacrylate/Al-flake + CNT composite is not perfect, and agglomeration of CNTs was observed.     

Mechanical and thermal properties of natural fibers reinforced polymer composites: Doum/low density polyethylene

Polymer composite materials with vegetable fibers were an attractive field for many industries and researchers, however, these materials required the issues of compatibility between the fibers and the polymeric matrix. This work evaluates the thermal and mechanical properties of Doum-fibers reinforcing a low density polyethylene (LDPE) composite to follow the effect of adding fibers into polymer matrix. Doum-fibers were Alkali treated to clean the fiber surface and improve the polymer/fibers adhesion. The Doum-fibers were compounded in LDPE matrix at various contents and extruded as continuous strands. An enhance on mechanical properties of composites was found, a gain of 145% compared to neat polymer at 30 wt.% fiber loading in Young’s modulus, a gain of 135% in flexural modulus at 20 wt.% fiber loading and a gain of 97% in torsional modulus at 0.1 Hz. Thermal properties were evaluated and the results show a slight decrease with increase of added Doum.     

The thermal conductivity of Al(OH)3 covered MWCNT/epoxy terminated dimethyl polysiloxane composite based on analytical Al(OH)3 covered MWCNT

Aluminum-hydroxide-covered multi-walled carbon nanotubes (A–MWCNT) were fabricated as a thermally conductive material. The thermal conductivity of A–MWCNT was estimated based on Casimir theory. The effective thermal conductivity of A–MWCNT was estimated at about ∼26 W/mK. The thermal conductivity of A–MWCNT/epoxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (ETDS) composite was examined as a function of A–MWCNT loading, and the results showed the maximum value at 1.5 wt% of A–MWCNT loading, above which it decreased slightly. The effective medium approximation (EMA) developed by Maxwell–Garnett (M–G) was used to analyze the thermal conducting behavior of the composite. The experimental results showed negative deviation from the expected thermal conductivity, k_e, beyond 1.5 wt% of A–MWCNT loading, because the composites containing A–MWCNT were strongly affected by interfacial resistance. The interfacial resistance value calculated from M–G approximation increased when filler loading was higher than 1.5 wt% because of the folded and partially agglomerated A–MWCNT along with insufficient interfacial interactions.     

Graphene woven fabric-reinforced polyimide films with enhanced and anisotropic thermal conductivity

Due to the growing needs of thermal management in modern electronics, polyimide-based (PI) composites are increasingly demanded in thermal interface materials (TIMs). Graphene woven fabrics (GWFs) with a mesh structure have been prepared by chemical vapor deposition and used as thermally conductive filler. With the incorporation of 10-layer GWFs laminates (approximate 12 wt%), the in-plane thermal conductivity of GWFs/PI composite films achieves 3.73 W/mK, with a thermal conductivity enhancement of 1418% compared to neat PI. However, the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of the composites is only 0.41 W/mK. The in-plane thermal conductivity exceeds its out-of plane counterpart by over 9 times, indicating a highly anisotropic thermal conduction of GWFs/PI composites. The thermal anisotropy and the enhanced in-plane thermal conductivity can be attributed to the layer-by-layer stacked GWFs network in PI matrix. Thus, the GWFs-reinforced polyimide films are promising for use as an efficient heat spreader for electronic cooling applications.     

Growing polystyrene chains from the surface of graphene layers via RAFT polymerization and the influence on their thermal properties

The polystyrene (PS) macromolecular chains were grafted on the surface of graphene layers by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. In this procedure, a RAFT agent, 4-Cyano-4-[(dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonyl) sulfanyl] pentanoic acid, was used to functionalize the thermal reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) to obtain the precursor (TRGO-RAFT). It can be calculated that the grafting density of PS/graphene (PRG) composites was about 0.18 chains per 100 carbons. Successful in-plain attachment of RAFT agent to TRGO and PS chain to TRGO-RAFT was shown an influence on the thermal property of the PRG composites. The thermal conductivity (λ) improved from 0.150 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ of neat PS to 0.250 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ of PRG composites with 10 wt% graphene sheets loading. The thermal property of PRG composites increased due to the homogeneous dispersion and ordered arrangement of graphene sheets in PS matrix and the formation of PRG composites.     

Preparation of Nylon-6/flake graphite derivatives composites with antistatic property and thermal stability

Nylon-6/flake graphite (FG) composite, Nylon-6/graphene intercalation compounds (GIC) composite and Nylon-6/exfoliated graphite (EG) composite were prepared by FG, GIC, EG and caprolactam via in situ polymerization, and the volume resistivities of Nylon-6/flake graphite derivatives composites were also investigated. Meanwhile, the structure of Nylon-6/EG composite was characterized and the thermal stability of Nylon-6/EG composite was investigated as well. When the mass percents of FG, GIC and EG were 1%, 2–4% and 1%, the volume resistivities of flake graphite derivatives composites would reach 7.5 × 10⁶ Ω cm, 3.6 × 10⁸–1.4 × 10⁶ Ω cm and 2.3 × 10⁶ Ω cm. When the mass percent of EG increases from 0% to 9%, the thermal stability temperature of Nylon-6/EG composite would enhance from 70 to 196 °C. This shows that Nylon-6/flake graphite derivatives composites can have the antistatic property and thermal stability synchronously.     

Flexible and high thermal conductivity thin films based on polymer: Aminated multi-walled carbon nanotubes/micro-aluminum nitride hybrid composites

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with amino groups (MWCNT-NH₂) were prepared via the chemical modification of the carboxyl groups introduced on the surface of MWCNT. The synthesized materials and untreated micro-aluminum nitride (micro-AlN) particles were embedded in a polymer resin, viz. epoxy-terminated dimethyl siloxane. The thermal diffusivity and conductivity of all of the composites continuously improved with increasing the content of fillers. A thermal conductivity of 3.81 W/mK was achieved at an MWCNT-NH₂ loading of 3 wt% and micro-AlN loading of 70 wt% while their flexibility was maintained. This result is due to the high aspect ratio of the MWCNT-NH₂ which allows a heat conductive percolation network to be established between the micro-AlN particles. Also, all of the composites fabricated by the optimized process endured about 200,000 bending cycles without rupturing or losing their thermal conductivity.     

Effect of copper content on the thermal conductivity and thermal expansion of Al–Cu/diamond composites

Al–Cu matrix composites reinforced with diamond particles (Al–Cu/diamond composites) have been produced by a squeeze casting method. Cu content added to Al matrix was varied from 0 to 3.0 wt.% to detect the effect on thermal conductivity and thermal expansion behavior of the resultant Al–Cu/diamond composites. The measured thermal conductivity for the Al–Cu/diamond composites increased from 210 to 330 W/m/K with increasing Cu content from 0 to 3.0 wt.%. Accordingly, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was tailored from 13 × 10⁻⁶ to 6 × 10⁻⁶/K, which is compatible with the CTE of semiconductors in electronic packaging applications. The enhanced thermal conductivity and reduced coefficient of thermal expansion were ascribed to strong interface bonding in the Al–Cu/diamond composites. Cu addition has lowered the melting point and resulted in the formation of Al₂Cu phase in Al matrix. This is the underlying mechanism responsible for the strengthening of Al–Cu/diamond interface. The results show that Cu alloying is an effective approach to promoting interface bonding between Al and diamond.     

Synergistic effect of hybrid graphene nanoplatelet and multi-walled carbon nanotube fillers on the thermal conductivity of polymer composites and theoretical modeling of the synergistic effect

We found that the thermal conductivity of polymer composites was synergistically improved by the simultaneous incorporation of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) fillers into the polycarbonate matrix. The bulk thermal conductivity of composites with 20 wt% GNP filler was found to reach a maximum value of 1.13 W/m K and this thermal conductivity was synergistically enhanced to reach a maximum value of 1.39 W/m K as the relative proportion of MWCNT content was increased but the relative proportion of GNP content was decreased. The synergistic effect was theoretically estimated based on a modified micromechanics model where the different shapes of the nanofillers in the composite system could be taken into account. The waviness of the incorporated GNP and MWCNT fillers was found to be one of the most important physical factors determining the thermal conductivity of the composites and must be taken into consideration in theoretical calculations.