Ruben Salgado

Thermal Percolation Threshold and Thermal Properties of Composites with High Loading of Graphene and Boron Nitride Fillers

We investigated thermal properties of the epoxy-based composites with the high loading fraction-up to f ≈ 45 vol %-of the randomly oriented electrically conductive graphene fillers and electrically insulating boron nitride fillers. It was found that both types of the composites revealed a distinctive thermal percolation threshold at the loading fraction fT > 20 vol %. The graphene loading required for achieving thermal percolation, fT, was substantially higher than the loading, fE, for electrical percolation. Graphene fillers outperformed boron nitride fillers in the thermal conductivity enhancement. It was established that thermal transport in composites with high filler loadings, f ≥ fT, is dominated by heat conduction via the network of percolating fillers. Unexpectedly, we determined that the thermal transport properties of the high loading composites were influenced strongly by the cross-plane thermal conductivity of the quasi-two-dimensional fillers. The obtained results shed light on the debated mechanism of the thermal percolation, and facilitate the development of the next generation of the efficient thermal interface materials for electronic applications.

Carbon nanotube: nanodiamond Li-ion battery cathodes with increased thermal conductivity

Prevention of excess heat accumulation within the Li-ion battery cells is a critical design consideration for electronic and photonic device applications. Many existing approaches for heat removal from batteries increase substantially the complexity and overall weight of the battery. Some of us have previously shown a possibility of effective passive thermal management of Li-ion batteries via improvement of thermal conductivity of cathode and anode material1. In this presentation, we report the results of our investigation of the thermal conductivity of various Li-ion cathodes with incorporated carbon nanotubes and nanodiamonds in different layered structures. The cathodes were synthesized using the filtration method, which can be utilized for synthesis of commercial electrode-active materials. The thermal measurements were conducted with the laser flash technique. It has been established that the cathode with the carbon nanotubes-LiCo2 and carbon nanotube layered structure possesses the highest in-plane thermal conductivity of ~ 206 W/mK at room temperature. The cathode containing nanodiamonds on carbon nanotubes structure revealed one of the highest cross-plane thermal conductivity values. The in-plane thermal conductivity is up to two orders-of-magnitude greater than that in conventional cathodes based on amorphous carbon. The obtained results demonstrate a potential of carbon nanotube incorporation in cathode materials for the effective thermal management of Li-ion high-powered density batteries.

A comparative study of the thermal interface materials with graphene and boron nitride fillers

We report the results of an experimental study that compares the performance of graphene and boron nitride flakes as fillers in the thermal interface materials. The thickness of both fillers varied from a single atomic plane to about a hundred. The measurements have been conducted using a standard TIM tester. Our results show that the addition of a small fraction of graphene (f=4 wt%) to a commercial thermal interface material increases the resulting apparent thermal conductivity substantially stronger than the addition of boron nitride. The obtained data suggest that graphene and fewlayer graphene flakes couple better to the matrix materials than the boron nitride fillers. A combination of both fillers can be used to increase the thermal conductivity while controlling the electrical conduction.