Copper
Shell Networks in Polymer Composites for Efficient Thermal Conduction
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Abstract
Thermal
management of polymeric composites is a crucial issue to determine
the performance and reliability of the devices. Here, we report a
straightforward route to prepare polymeric composites with Cu thin
film networks. Taking advantage of the fluidity of polymer melt and
the ductile properties of Cu films, the polymeric composites were
created by the Cu metallization of PS bead and the hot press molding
of Cu-plated PS beads. The unique three-dimensional Cu shell-networks
in the PS matrix demonstrated isotropic and ideal conductive performance
at even extremely low Cu contents. In contrast to the conventional
simple melt-mixed Cu beads/PS composites at the same concentration
of 23.0 vol %, the PS composites with Cu shell networks indeed revealed
60 times larger thermal conductivity and 8 orders of magnitude larger
electrical conductivity. Our strategy offers a straightforward and
high-throughput route for the isotropic thermal and electrical conductive
composites