Large-scale preparation of leakage-proof phase change composites with compressed enhanced thermally conductive network for efficient thermal management

With the rapid advances in electronics, the scalable development of thermal management materials with high thermal conductivity especially leakage-proof phase change composites (PCCs) is in standing need. In this study, the ethylene-propylene-diene monomer/expanded graphite/paraffin wax (EPDM/EG/PW) phase change composites (PCCs) with excellent thermal conductivity were prepared with an EPDM/EG foam skeleton via the simple melt blending under the roll-to-roll compression. Except for excellent shape stability and leakage-proof performances, the compressed PCC (CPCC) obtained significant thermal conductivity (2.52 W m−1 K−1), which is 908 % of EPDM/PW and achieved a 292 % enhancement compared with the control sample without roll-to-roll compression process. The improved thermal conductivity endows the CPCC with enhanced thermal energy storage and release rates, which benefit the thermal management of electronics, providing a high-performance thermal management ability (∆T=42°C). This work not only comes up with a general strategy to boost the thermal conductivity of advanced composites, but also obtains a series of PCCs with high thermal conductivity and significant potentials in high-efficiency thermal management.