Thermal properties of graphene and multilayer graphene: Applications in thermal interface materials

thermal interface materials. It has been demonstrated that addition of an optimized mixture of graphene and multilayer graphene to the composites with different matrix materials produces the record-high enhancement of the effective thermal conductivity at the small filler loading fraction (fr10 vol%). The thermal conductivity enhancement due to the presence of graphene in the composites has been observed for a range of matrix materials used by industry. The hybrid composites where graphene is utilized together with metallic microand nanoparticles allow one to tune both the thermal and electrical conductivity of these materials. Theoretical considerations indicate that the graphenebased thermal interface materials can outperform those with carbon nanotubes, metal nanoparticles and other fillers owing to graphene’s geometry, mechanical flexibility and lower Kapitza resistance at the graphene–base material interface. & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.