Phase-change composite elastomers for efficient thermal management at contact interface

Abstract

Given the challenges posed by interfacial thermal transport in domains such as energy science and electronic technology, there is a compelling and timely pursuit to enhance the heat transfer performance of composite elastomers as thermal interface materials. Herein, we propose a method to prepare low-leakage composite elastomers by blending phase change silicon wax and polydimethylsiloxane with fillers. The phase change behavior of silicon wax provides the materials 99.09 % modulus change and a corresponding decrease in contact thermal resistance by 66.91 %, leading to significantly improvement of heat transfer performance. Combining with the thermal performance that evaluated by chip heating simulating system, these findings offer valuable insights into the design of composite elastomers, establishing their suitability for use as thermal interface materials.