Preparation of continuous carbon fiber-filled silicone rubber with high thermal conductivity through wrapping

With the development of electronics, there is an increasing demand for high-performance heat-dissipation materials in electronic devices. Thermal conductive silicone rubber (SR) has received significant attention in related industries due to its excellent mechanical flexibility and high thermal conductivity. However, the intrinsic thermal conductivity of SR is low, necessitating the addition of thermal conductive fillers to meet the usage requirements. Common thermal conductive fillers typically exist in powder form and require such surface modification and orientation, which increases production costs and poses challenges for large-scale production. In this study, continuous carbon fibers (CFs) are utilized as fillers. By employing a simple pre-infiltration and winding method, CFs are uniformly distributed in SR, aligning parallel. The CFs not only serve as thermal conductive pathways but also maintain their orientation distribution within the substrate. Furthermore, by pre-adding boron nitride (BN) to the SR, the thermal conductivity of SR is enhanced, and BN is distributed along the fibers, further improving the enhancement effect of BN on the thermal conductivity of SR. When CF content reaches 30 vol%, the thermal conductivity of CF/BN/SR composite reaches 2.789 W m(-1) K-1. Moreover, by using BN/SR before curing as a coating, it can be applied to the surface of the CF/BN/SR composite. This greatly increases the volume resistivity of the material (>10(14) Omega cm) while maintaining the thermal conductivity of the composite. Using continuous fibers as fillers also enables easier implementation of mass production in the preparation of thermal conductive SR.

Automated summary

With the development of electronics, there is a growing demand for high-performance heat-dissipation materials in electronic devices. This study utilizes continuous carbon fibers as fillers in thermal conductive silicone rubber (SR) to enhance its thermal conductivity. The fibers are uniformly distributed and aligned parallel to serve as thermal conductive pathways. The addition of boron nitride (BN) further improves the thermal conductivity of SR. Moreover, applying BN/SR as a coating increases the volume resistivity while maintaining the thermal conductivity of the composite material.