Enhanced Thermal Conductivity via In Situ Constructed CNT Aerogel Structure in Composites

Polymer-based thermal conductivity composite plays an important role in the thermal management of electronic devices to ensure normal operation. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are effective thermally conductive fillers to improve the heat transfer efficiency of composites. However, the controlled arrangement of CNT in composites is still a huge challenge for improving their thermal conductivity. To address this issue, CNT aerogel with a regular structure is in situ constructed as a heat transfer pathway based on the catalytic conversion of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) aerogel. Benefiting from the network structure of aerogel, the in-plane thermal conductivity of composites not only reach 1.1 W m –1 K –1 at 7.35 vol% filler, but also exhibit a small fluctuation with the increase of temperature. The composites open previously unexplored preparation avenues toward electronic packing thermal management materials.