Polyurethane foam-supported three-dimensional interconnected graphene nanosheets network encapsulated in polydimethylsiloxane to achieve significant thermal conductivity enhancement

• Published in: Frontiers of materials science Vol. 17; no. 3; p. 230653
• Main Authors: Li, Wenjing, Wu, Ni, Che, Sai, Sun, Li, Liu, Hongchen, Ma, Guang, Wang, Ye, Xu, Chong, Li, Yongfeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Higher Education Press 01.09.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Encapsulation; Flexibility; Graphene; graphene nanosheet; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Management systems; Materials Science; Mechanical properties; Nanosheets; Plastic foam; Polydimethylsiloxane; polymer composite; Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Polyurethane foam; Research Article; Tannic acid; thermal and mechanical property; Thermal conductivity; Thermal management; polyurethane foam; polymer composite; graphene nanosheet; thermal and mechanical property
• ISSN: 2095-025X; 2095-0268
• DOI: 10.1007/s11706-023-0653-9

Polyurethane (PU) foams are widely used in thermal management materials due to their good flexibility. However, their low thermal conductivity limits the efficiency. To address this issue, we developed a new method to produce tannic acid (TA)-modified graphene nanosheets (GTs)-encapsulated PU (PU@GT) foams using the soft template microstructure and a facile layer-by-layer (L-B-L) assembly method. The resulting PU@GT scaffolds have ordered and tightly stacked GTs layers that act as three-dimensional (3D) highly interconnected thermal networks. These networks are further infiltrated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The through-plane thermal conductivity of the polymer composite reaches 1.58 W·m −1·K −1 at a low filler loading of 7.9 wt. %, which is 1115 % higher than that of the polymer matrix. Moreover, the mechanical property of the composite is ~2 times higher than that of the polymer matrix while preserving good flexibility of the polymer matrix owing to the retention of the PU foam template and the construction of a stable 3D graphene network. This work presents a facile and scalable production approach to fabricate lightweight PU@GT/PDMS polymer composites with excellent thermal and mechanical performance, which implies a promising future in thermal management systems of electronic devices.