Enhanced thermal conductivity of alumina and carbon fibre filled composites by 3-D printing

In this work, we report a fabrication of oriented carbon fibres/alumina/silicon rubber composites by 3-D printing. The 3-D printed composites possess higher thermal conductivity up to 7.36 W/m K at 12 vol% CFs and 30 vol% alumina loading than that of cast composites (4.22 W/m K) at the same components. The orientation caused by 3-D printing produces a synergism of the thermal conductivity enhancement for CFs and alumina hybrid filled composites. We attribute the synergism to the decrease of thermal interface resistance, while the reduction of thermal interface resistance has a bigger effect on thermal conductivity of CASR composites. This study provides a novel way to obtain thermal conductive composites with orientation, which has a great significance for the development of high-performance thermal conductive products.