Carbon-based phase change composites with directional high thermal conductivity for interface thermal management

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs) can provide a buffer platform for thermal management systems to deal with thermal runaway problems. However, prompt heat dissipation and cost-effective thermal regulation in desired devices are still limited by insufficient thermal transport behavior and liquid leakage of PCMs. Here, we report a facile strategy to develop high-power-density device by carbon-based phase change composites (PCCs) with directional high thermal conductivity. The synergistic effect of self-assembled aligned graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) inside the resultant PCCs on thermal transport and structural reinforcement enable the PCCs to show high thermal conductivity (in-plane KPCCs of up to 32.86 W m−1 K−1), large heat storage density (158.2–248.3 J g−1), thermal cycling stability, and leakage-proof properties. Furthermore, a PCC-based high-power-density energy device is demonstrated for the tunable thermal regulation by coordinating the orientation of GNPs heat conduction skeleton inside the PCCs with the thermal transport direction of device. The PCC-based module maintains a suitable temperature range of 149–151 °C under various operating conditions and exhibits a decrease of ∼10 °C in the surface peak temperature of power device, showing excellent temperature control performance. Our work holds promising application prospects in the engineering scalable functional PCCs for thermal regulation of electronics and interface thermal management.