“Essentially, we have found a ‘golden key’ with which to achieve efficient heat transport in electronics and other power devices by using graphene nanoflake based film,” said Professor Johan Liu. “This can open up potential uses of this kind of film in broad areas, and we are getting closer to pilot-scale production based on this discovery.”
During their work, the researchers looked at the film’s heat transfer properties following the addition of amino- and azide-based silane molecules. They found that, by introducing these molecules, the heat transfer efficiency of the film can be improved by more than 76%, due mainly to a ‘drastic’ reduction in contact resistance. The results suggested potential thermal management solutions for electronic devices.
“This is the first time that such systematic research has been done,” Prof Liu noted. “The present work is much more extensive than previously published results from several involved partners and it covers more functionalisation molecules and also more extensive direct evidence of the thermal contact resistance measurement.”