Carbon fiber reinforced elastomeric thermal interface materials for spacecraft

Due to the high-heat flux issue caused by the increasing power consumption of electronic devices in spacecraft, there is an urgent need but still a significant challenge to develop high thermal conductivity elastomeric thermal interface materials (TIMs) for spacecraft. In this study, mesophase pitch-based carbon fibers (CFs) are added as fillers on the basis of conventional alumina/silicone rubber TIMs, and the CFs are oriented in the matrix by a strong magnetic field during the preparation process. Attributed to the phonon-transport highways composed of vertically-oriented CFs and the synergistic improvement based on CFs and alumina, the through-plane thermal conductivity of the final elastomeric composite with 20 vol% CFs is increased by nearly 14 times compared with the alumina/silicone rubber composite, and it also confirms to the vacuum outgassing performance standard for spacecraft. Moreover, with the help of a verification system, the actual heat transfer capability of the composite is evaluated through the ground test and on-orbit test, and the results suggest that it has a perfect interface heat transfer capability both on the ground and in space, which reveals that this composite can potentially be applied as elastomeric TIM for spacecraft thermal control. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study presents a method to enhance the thermal conductivity of elastomeric thermal interface materials (TIMs) for spacecraft by incorporating mesophase pitch-based carbon fibers (CFs) and utilizing a strong magnetic field for fiber alignment. The resultant composite shows significantly improved through-plane thermal conductivity compared to traditional alumina/silicone rubber composites and meets the vacuum outgassing performance standard for spacecraft. Ground and on-orbit tests confirm its excellent heat transfer capability in both environments.