Vertically aligned dopamine-reduced graphene oxide with high thermal conductivity for epoxy nanocomposites

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 55; no. 21; pp. 8917 - 8929
• Main Authors: Liu, Yingchun, Wu, Kun, Lu, Maoping, Nie, Shibin, Chen, Weilong, Jiao, Enxiang, Nan, Bingfei, Liang, Liyan, Lu, Mangeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bonding agents; Bonding strength; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Comparative analysis; Composites & Nanocomposites; Cooling effects; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Curing agents; Dopamine; Epoxy resins; Fillers; Graphene; Graphite; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Materials Science; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Phenols; Polymer Sciences; Reaction kinetics; Solid Mechanics; Thermal conductivity; Thermal management
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-020-04639-x

Designing ordered fillers arrangement and superior interfacial adhesion between fillers and matrix can improve the thermal conductivity (TC) of composites. Here, bioinspired dopamine chemistry was firstly used to reduce graphene oxide (GO) and introduce polydopamine nanoparticles on the surface of GO. Then, a well-aligned epoxy/reduced GO films (EP/RGFs) nanocomposites were prepared via the simple vacuum impregnation. Compared with the random distribution of fillers in a traditional blending composite, fillers were selectively distributed in matrix and continuous thermal conductive network structures were constructed in this strategy. As a result, the nanocomposite exhibited a high TC of 0.913 W m −1  K −1 which is 4.8 times higher than pure EP. In addition, curing kinetics showed that RGFs were similar to an amine-type curing agent that reacted with EP and bonded them tightly, and its nanocomposites reaction activation energy is lower than that of pure EP. These results indicated RGFs possessed excellent interface compatibility with EP and suppressing effectively the phonon scattering at the EP–RGFs interface. Cooling experiments showed that nanocomposites can reduce by about 10 °C for a hot source (80 °C), demonstrating it can transfer efficiently heat energy from the heat source. This study provides an effective method for the preparation of high-performance thermal management composites.