High conductivity thermoelectric insulation composite silicone rubber prepared by carbon nanotubes and silicon carbide composite filler

Abstract

Polymer based materials with high conductivity and electric insulation are widely used in new electronic fields as thermal interface material (TIM). In this work, firstly we prepared the mixed fillers of silicon carbide (SiC) and carbon nanotubes (CNT), and then used them to modify silicone rubber (SR) preparing composite SR. The experimental results of TGA showed that the composite silicone rubber had strong thermal stability, and the mass loss was only 5% until about 370°C. Besides, the thermal conductivity was significantly enhanced, which increased from 0.2 (pure SR) to 1.103 W·m−1·k−1 (composite SR containing 3wt%CNT and 20wt%SiC), the enhancement ratio arriving as high as 483.05%. In addition, the composite silicone rubber maintained (water contact angle above 90 °) hydrophobicity and electrical insulation (volume resistivity of composite SR with 3wt%CNT and 20wt%SiC up to 1013 Ω·cm), which effectively prevent leakage risk and reduce voltage loss. Therefore, a small number of mixed fillers of SiC and CNT can effectively improve the combination properties of silicone rubber and provide more ideas for TIM.

Thermoelectric properties of polyvinylpyrrolidone/polyaniline‐mixed Bi2Te3 composites prepared by electrospinning

“…The future growth of thermoelectric energy conversion technology is mostly dependent on material performance improvements. [ 2 ] The highest efficiency of a TEG ( ƞ TE) is given by where, is the temperature of hot side of the TEG, is the temperature of cold side, T av = is the average temperature and z = k −1 where Seebeck coefficient, is electrical conductivity, and k is thermal conductivity. The maximum efficiency of a TEG is proportional to z .…”

“…Previously, thermoelectric materials were mostly used in specialized applications, including bio-thermoelectric pacemakers, space radioisotope generators, wristwatches, radios, and temperature control fabric as small self-powered systems. [2,3] Thermoelectric devices are based on the Seebeck effect, which converts a temperature difference into an electrical potential difference. [4,5] The Seebeck coefficient is sometimes termed thermopower or thermoelectric power, which can be described by the equation S = ±(dV/dT), where S is the Seebeck coefficient, V and T are the potential difference temperature difference, respectively.…”

“…A good thermoelectric material (usually semimetals or semiconductors) will have a Seebeck coefficient value in the range of 150-250 μVK À1 . The Seebeck coefficient of metals (degenerate semiconductors) Equation ( 1) and the Seebeck coefficient of semiconductors in Equation (2) both can be well explained by the Mott equations.…”

Enhancing the thermal and electrical conductivities of silicone rubber composites by constructing a 1D‐3D collaborative network

“…[ 19 ] With the deepening of research, two or more conductive/thermal fillers with synergistic effects have been doped to enhance the electrical and thermal conductivity of silicone rubber composites. [ 14,20–22 ] For example, a synergistic effect between boron nitride (BN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) in the enhancement of the thermal conductivity of addition‐cured liquid silicone rubber (ALSR) composites was reported by Ou et al With the incorporation of 40 wt% BN and 10 wt% AlN, effective heat conduction channels and networks formed in the AlN/BN/ALSR composites, which noticeably reduced the thermal contact resistance and increased the thermal conductivity of the composites. The thermal conductivity of the ALSR composites achieved 0.554 W/m·K, which was 3.4 times higher than that of pure ALSR.…”

Fabrication and characterization study of ultrathin multi‐walled carbon nanotubes/polydimethylsiloxane composite membranes for strain sensing application

“…[9,10] Among those nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted broad attention owing to their excellent electrical and mechanical properties. [11][12][13] Integrating CNTs with polymers (such as PMMA, polyamide, polystyrene, etc.) to form composites could significantly increase the base materials' properties, such as mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and thermal stability.…”