Epoxy composites based on phase change microcapsules with high thermal conductivity and storage efficiency by dispersing with cellulose nanofibrils

The incorporation of microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs) into electronic packaging materials has demonstrated the potential to reduce the transient increase in temperature of electronic devices under thermal loading. However, because of their high specific surface area, MPCMs tend to form severe aggregates in polymer matrices, resulting in poor thermal conductivity and energy storage efficiency. Therefore, in this paper, cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were used as dispersants to effectively disperse MPCMs in the epoxy resin matrix to synthesize epoxy composites with superior thermal conductivity and thermal storage properties (referred to as EBM-C). The results demonstrated that the addition of CNF improved the dispersion of MPCMs as well as the thermal conductivity and thermal storage capacity of the composites. The thermal conductivity and energy storage efficiency of the composites with 3 wt% CNF were increased by 100 %, and 97 %, respectively, compared to those of composites without CNF. In addition, the EBM-C composites also had excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties. The experimental results conclusively demonstrate that the EBM-C composites have tremendous application potential as thermal management materials.