Flexible composite phase change materials with enhanced thermal conductivity and mechanical performance for thermal management

Abstract

Thermal management technologies play an important role in maintaining a relatively stable working temperature for electronics. Organic solid–liquid phase change materials (PCMs) have been widely used in thermal management systems owing to their high energy storage capacity and stable physicochemical properties. However, it is still a challenge for organic PCMs to achieve good flexibility, high thermal conductivity and complete leakage resistance simultaneously. Herein, boron nitride (BN) was pre-attached to the surface of paraffin wax microcapsules (MCPW), followed by compounding them with natural rubber (NR) to yield flexible composite PCMs with thermally conductive pathways constructed by BN. Such a localized dispersion strategy enables BN to be homogeneously dispersed in the continuous NR phase. The obtained flexible composite PCMs realize an impressive balance among salient shape stability, considerable energy storage density, excellent mechanical flexibility, and enhanced thermal conductivity, showing great potential in the field of thermal management of electronics.