Highly thermal conductive epoxy composites enabled by 3D graphene/Cu-based dual networks for efficient thermal management

With the increasing integration of electronic devices, efficient thermal management is urgently required. Herein, 3D graphene/Cu-based dual networks were developed for highly thermal conductive epoxy (Cu@hLIG/EP) composites. Using the honeycomb-like porous laser-induced graphene (hLIG) as 3D skeleton, the Cu layer was introduced by electroless plating. The Cu@hLIG/EP composite showed a high thermal conductivity up to 16.4 W m−1 K−1, which was almost 63 times that of neat EP and 6 times that of hLIG/EP composite with similar filler loading. This increase was attributed to the pre-constructed 3D network, phonon-electron dual thermal transfer channels and reduced phonon mismatch in composites. Furthermore, by using the reprocessable EP resin, the designability of thermal conductive composites was greatly enhanced, where layered composites could be easily fabricated by the simple stacking strategy. The material/process developed demonstrates wide promise in thermal management applications.