Advanced flexible rGO-BN natural rubber films with high thermal conductivity for improved thermal management capability

Driven by increasingly severe cooling issue of modern electronic devices, the design of heat-dissipation films with ultrahigh in-plane thermal conductivity (TC) has achieved considerable development. However, the problems of the poor flexibility and low out-plane TC remain outstanding, significantly restricting the large-scale application of the films. Herein, we developed a novel GO-assisted gelation method combined with facile hot compression to fabricate the highly flexible rGO-BN-NR composite films with an outstanding heat dissipating performance. The as-prepared films, at a BN loading of 250phr, demonstrated both superior in-plane TC (16.0 W/(m·K)) and impressive elongation at break (113%). In addition, the composite films also exhibited excellent flame-retardant ability and pronounced antistatic performance. More importantly, to accommodate the applied characteristics of thermal interface materials, the orienting direction of the composites can be easily transferred to achieve a high vertical TC. The strong cooling capability of the rGO-BN-NR composite films was directly certified by thermal infrared imaging and finite element simulation, indicating a broad and bright application for thermal management in a variety of emerging electronic devices.