3D structured graphene fluoride-based epoxy composites with high thermal conductivity and electrical insulation

Abstract Graphene-based polymer composites possess high thermal conductivity, unfortunately, the high electrical conductivity of these composites limits their application in electronic devices. To address this issue, we report on the thermally conducting yet electrically insulating graphene fluoride (GF) based epoxy composites. GF was coated on cell walls of polyurethane foam (PUF) by a cyclic assembly deposition process, and the PUF@GF foam was subsequently compressed and infiltrated with epoxy resin. The resultant PUF@GF/epoxy composite exhibited a thermal conductivity of 9.68 W·m−1·K−1 at 8.04 vol% of GF loading which was 51-folds higher than that of neat epoxy. The significant enhancement in thermal conductivity is attributed to the effective formation of 3D thermoconductive pathways of GF in epoxy matrix. Additionally, the PUF@GF/epoxy composites possess an electrical insulating property (10−9 S·m−1). This approach exhibits a cost-effective method to fabricate the thermoconductive composites with electrical insulation that could be applied for thermal management in electronic applications.