Thermal conductive epoxy enhanced by nanodiamond-coated carbon nanotubes

Nanodiamond (ND) particles were coated on the surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by chemical reactions. Reliable bonding was formed by the combination of acyl chloride on NDs and amine group on CNTs. ND coated CNTs (CNT-ND) were dispersed into epoxy to fabricate thermal conductive resins. The results show that the surface energy of CNTs is decreased by the coated NDs, which is contributed to the excellent dispersion of CNT-NDs in the epoxy matrix. The heat-transfer channels were built by the venous CNTs cooperating with the coated NDs, which not only plays an effective role of heat conduction for CNTs and NDs, but also avoids the electrical leakage by the protection of NDs surrounding outside of CNTs. Electrical and thermal conductance measurements demonstrate that the influence of the CNT-ND incorporation on the electrical conductance is minor, however, the thermal conductivity is improved significantly for the epoxy filled with CNT-ND.