High thermal conductivity polylactic acid composite for 3D printing: Synergistic effect of graphene and alumina

Abstract

With the continuous development of the electronics industry, in order to meet the requirements of electronic equipment to reduce the size and increase power consumption, the development of high thermal conductivity materials is crucial. In this study, thermally conductive polylactic acid (PLA) composites were prepared by constructing graphene and alumina (Al2O3) hybrid filler network, and it was further successfully used in additive manufacturing. Due to the synergistic effect of Al2O3 and graphene, the resulting composite achieved the thermal conductivity of 2.4 Wm−1 K−1 with 70 wt% Al2O3 and 1 wt% graphene, which are superior to data reported in the literature in the same filler condition. The Al2O3 and graphene hybrid filler network reduced the agglomeration of graphene and the thermal contact resistance between the fillers, thereby leading a faster cooling rate. Furthermore, the obtained thermally conductive PLA composite has good thermal stability at a normal temperature. The PLA composite powder obtained by the cryogenic pulverization can be used in the laser sintering additive manufacturing process to prepare a heat conductive material with a complicated shape.