Vertically Oriented Carbon Nanotube-Based Composites for Thermal Management

Polymer thermally conductive composites have emerged as ideal materials to address the issue of heat accumulation in various electrical devices. However, the practical application of thermally conductive composites often requires low filler content with multifunctional properties to meet the rapid development of electronic technology. Herein, highly oriented carbon nanotubes (O-CNTs) were grown in situ on vertically aligned melem skeletons by ice templating and high-temperature catalytic methods. The ordered CNTs were constructed by a cross-linking network in the matrix of epoxy (EP) for efficient heat transport pathways. The oriented O-CNTs/EP composite exhibits outstanding out-of-plane and in-plane thermal conductivities as 2.36 and 1.20 W/(m·K) with a CNT content of 4 wt %, respectively. The O-CNTs/EP composite also shows an excellent electromagnetic shielding effect of over 30 dB in the range of 8–40 GHz. This work provides a promising strategy for the construction of high-performance composites with advanced heat dissipation in thermal management materials.