Controllable construction of CNT-Interconnected liquid metal networks for thermal management

Abstract

Multifunctional portable devices for thermal management are crucial due to the development of small microelectronic devices. Traditional polymer composite-based materials have limitations such as single functionality, high costs, and low fire resistance. In this study, a multifunctional liquid metal (LM)-interconnected carbon nanotube (CNT)/aramid nanofiber (ANF) film was fabricated via facile vacuum-assisted self-assembly approach, followed by compression. ANFs serve as interfacial binders between LM and CNTs via hydrogen bonding, while LM interconnects the adjacent CNT layers for fast thermal transport of phonons and electrons. The resulting composite films exhibited high bidirectional thermal conductivity (in-plane: 4.6 W/mK, through-plane: 1.1 W/mK), providing reliable cooling. Moreover, the as-fabricated films demonstrated excellent flame retardancy (20 s of burning), impressive Joule heating performance (200 °C at 3.5 V), and effective electromagnetic interference shielding (53 dB). This work provides an efficient method for fabricating multifunctional thermal management materials for microelectronic devices, battery thermal management, and artificial intelligence.