A 3D graphene/polyimide fiber framework with improved thermal conductivity and mechanical performance

Abstract

The integration of electronic components and the popularity of flexible devices have come up with higher expectations for the heat dissipation capability and comprehensive mechanical performance of thermal management materials. In this work, after the modification of polyimide (PI) fibers through oxidation and amination, the obtained PDA@OPI fibers (polydopamine (PDA)-modified pre-oxidized PI fibers) with abundant amino groups were mixed into graphene oxide (GO) to form uniform GO-PDA@OPI composites. Followed by evaporation, carbonization, graphitization and mechanical compaction, the G-gPDA@OPI films with a stable three-dimensional (3D) long-range interconnected covalent structure were built. In particular, due to the rich covalent bonds between GO layers and PDI@OPI fibers, the enhanced synergistic graphitization promotes an ordered graphitized structure with less interlayer distance between adjacent graphene sheets in composite film. As a result, the optimized G-gPDA@OPI film displays an improved tensile strength of 78.5 MPa, tensile strain of 19.4% and thermal conductivity of 1028 W/(m·K). Simultaneously, it also shows superior flexibility and high resilience. This work provides an easily-controlled and relatively low-cost route for fabricating multifunctional graphene heat dissipation films.

Keywords

graphene film / modified polyimide fiber / polydopamine / thermal conductivity / mechanical properties

References

[1] ZhangX-D, GuoY, LiuY-J, et al.. Ultrathick and highly thermally conductive graphene films by self-fusion [J]. Carbon, 2020, 167: 249-255

[2] SongN, CaoD-L, LuoX, et al.. Highly thermally conductive polypropylene/graphene composites for thermal management [J]. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 2020, 135: 105912

[3] PanZ, WuY-H, YuanH, et al.. Ascorbic acid-assisted defect healing and stack ordering of graphene films towards high power thermal dispersion [J]. Carbon, 2021, 182799-805

[4] LuY-H, HaoJ-C, XiaoG-Y, et al.. Preparation and properties of in situ amino-functionalized graphene oxide/polyimide composite films [J]. Applied Surface Science, 2017, 422: 710-719

[5] LiuZ-X, WangX-L, HuA-P, et al.. 3D Sedoped NiCoP nanoarrays on carbon cloth for efficient alkaline hydrogen evolution [J]. Journal of Central South University, 2021, 28(8): 2345-2359

[6] LiH-L, XiaoS-N, YuH-L, et al.. A review of graphene-based films for heat dissipation [J]. New Carbon Materials, 2021, 36(5): 897-908

[7] ChenS-J, WangQ-L, ZhangM-M, et al.. Scalable production of thick graphene film for next generation thermal management application [J]. Carbon, 2020, 167: 270-277

[8] LuoF-B, WuK, ShiJ, et al.. Green reduction of graphene oxide by polydopamine to a construct flexible film: Superior flame retardancy and high thermal conductivity [J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2017, 5(35): 18542-18550

[9] ZhuangY-F, ZhengK, CaoX-Y, et al.. Flexible graphene nanocomposites with simultaneous highly anisotropic thermal and electrical conductivities prepared by engineered graphene with flat morphology [J]. ACS Nano, 2020, 14(9): 11733-11742

[10] ZhuangY-F, ZhengK, CaoX-Y, et al.. Graphene/naphthalene sulfonate composite films with high electrical and thermal conductivities for energy storage and thermal management in nanoscale electronic devices [J]. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2021, 4(12): 13123-13131

[11] LiL, MaZ-G, XuP-H, et al.. Flexible and alternant-layered cellulose nanofiber/graphene film with superior thermal conductivity and efficient electromagnetic interference shielding [J]. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 2020, 139: 106134

[12] WangY, WangH-T, LiuF, et al.. Flexible printed circuit board based on graphene/polyimide composites with excellent thermal conductivity and sandwich structure [J]. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 2020, 138106075

[13] GaoJ-Y, YanQ-W, LvL, et al.. Lightweight thermal interface materials based on hierarchically structured graphene paper with superior through-plane thermal conductivity [J]. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2021, 419129609

[14] DaiW, LvL, LuJ-B, et al.. A paper-like inorganic thermal interface material composed of hierarchically structured graphene/silicon carbide nanorods [J]. ACS Nano, 2019, 13(2): 1547-1554

[15] MengX, PanH, ZhuC-L, et al.. Coupled chiral structure in graphene-based film for ultrahigh thermal conductivity in both in-plane and through-plane directions [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2018, 10(26): 22611-22622

[16] LvF, QinM-M, ZhangF, et al.. High cross-plane thermally conductive hierarchical composite using graphene-coated vertically aligned carbon nanotubes/graphite [J]. Carbon, 2019, 149281-289

[17] PengL, XuZ, LiuZ, et al.. Ultrahigh thermal conductive yet superflexible graphene films [J]. Advanced Materials, 2017, 29(27): 1700589

[18] AkbariA, CunningB V, JoshiS R, et al.. Highly ordered and dense thermally conductive graphitic films from a graphene oxide/reduced graphene oxide mixture [J]. Matter, 2020, 251198-1206

[19] WangS-S, SunX-X, XuF, et al.. Strong yet tough graphene/graphene oxide hybrid films [J]. Carbon, 2021, 179: 469-476

[20] YuanH, YeJ-L, YeC-R, et al.. Highly efficient preparation of graphite oxide without water enhanced oxidation [J]. Chemistry of Materials, 2021, 33(5): 1731-1739

[21] LiuP-F, LiX-F, MinP, et al.. 3D lamellar-structured graphene aerogels for thermal interface composites with high through-plane thermal conductivity and fracture toughness [J]. Nano-Micro Letters, 2020, 13(1): 22

[22] WangZ-M, CaoY-Y, PanD-C, et al.. Vertically aligned and interconnected graphite and graphene oxide networks leading to enhanced thermal conductivity of polymer composites [J]. Polymers, 2020, 1251121

[23] ZhangY-F, RenY-J, BaiS-L. Vertically aligned graphene film/epoxy composites as heat dissipating materials [J]. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2018, 118: 510-517

[24] LiH-L, DaiS-C, MiaoJ, et al.. Enhanced thermal conductivity of graphene/polyimide hybrid film via a novel “molecular welding” strategy [J]. Carbon, 2018, 126319-327

[25] MaL-R, WangY-X, WangY-Y, et al.. Graphene induced carbonization of polyimide films to prepared flexible carbon films with improving-thermal conductivity [J]. Ceramics International, 2020, 46(3): 3332-3338

[26] ZhangX-R, XieX-Y, CaiX-Z, et al.. Graphene-perfluoroalkoxy nanocomposite with high through-plane thermal conductivity fabricated by hot-pressing [J]. Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland), 2019, 9(9): 1320

[27] WuX, LiH-L, ChengK, et al.. Modified graphene/polyimide composite films with strongly enhanced thermal conductivity [J]. Nanoscale, 2019, 11178219-8225

[28] YuanG-J, XieJ-F, LiH-H, et al.. Thermally reduced graphene oxide/carbon nanotube composite films for thermal packaging applications [J]. Materials (Basel, Switzerland), 2020, 13(2): 317

[29] RenY-J, RenL-C, LiJ-X, et al.. Enhanced thermal conductivity in polyamide 6 composites based on the compatibilization effect of polyether-grafted graphene [J]. Composites Science and Technology, 2020, 199: 108340

[30] WangK, LiM-X, ZhangJ-J, et al.. Polyacrylonitrile coupled graphite oxide film with improved heat dissipation ability [J]. Carbon, 2019, 144249-258

[31] ZouR, LiuF, HuN, et al.. Graphene/graphitized polydopamine/carbon nanotube all-carbon ternary composite films with improved mechanical properties and through-plane thermal conductivity [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020, 12(51): 57391-57400

[32] XiaP-H, LiH, WangY-J, et al.. Processing aramid nanofiber/modified graphene oxide hydrogel into ultrastrong nanocomposite film [J]. Applied Surface Science, 2021, 545149004

[33] WeiK-X, JiaF-L, WeiW, et al.. Flexible nanotwinned graphene/copper composites as thermal management materials [J]. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2020, 3(5): 4810-4817

[34] VuM C, ManiD, JeongT H, et al.. Nacre-inspired nanocomposite papers of graphene fluoride integrated 3D aramid nanofibers towards heat-dissipating applications [J]. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 429132182

[35] ZhaoX-M, LiW, WangY-J, et al.. Bioinspired modified graphite film with superb mechanical and thermoconductive properties [J]. Carbon, 2021, 18140-47

[36] LiuZ, WangQ-S, HouL-L, et al.. Ultralight, ultraflexible, anisotropic, highly thermally conductive graphene aerogel films [J]. Molecules, 2021, 26(22): 6867

[37] ZhangF, FengY-Y, QinM-M, et al.. Stress controllability in thermal and electrical conductivity of 3D elastic graphene-crosslinked carbon nanotube sponge/polyimide nanocomposite [J]. Advanced Functional Materials, 2019, 29251901383

[38] KongQ-Q, LiuZ, GaoJ-G, et al.. Hierarchical graphene-carbon fiber composite paper as a flexible lateral heat spreader [J]. Advanced Functional Materials, 2014, 24274222-4228

[39] FengW, LiJ-P, FengY-Y, et al.. Enhanced cross-plane thermal conductivity and high resilience of three-dimensional hierarchical carbon nanocoil-graphite nanocomposites [J]. RSC Advances, 2014, 4(20): 10090-10096

[40] InagakiM, OhtaN, HishiyamaY. Aromatic polyimides as carbon precursors [J]. Carbon, 2013, 61: 1-21

[41] HuangC, HuA-P, LiY-H, et al.. Room temperature ultrafast synthesis of N- and O-rich graphene films with an expanded interlayer distance for high volumetric capacitance supercapacitors [J]. Nanoscale, 2019, 11(35): 16515-16522

[42] HuangC, TangQ-L, FengQ-S, et al.. Achieving ultrahigh volumetric performance of graphene composite films by an outer — inner dual space utilizing strategy [J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2020, 8(19): 9661-9669

[43] ZhaoX, HuangC, TangQ-L, et al.. A simple approach towards highly dense graphene films for high volumetric performance supercapacitors [J]. Chem Electro Chem, 2022, 9(1): e202101451

[44] LiY-H, ZhuY-F, JiangG-P, et al.. Boosting the heat dissipation performance of graphene/polyimide flexible carbon film via enhanced through-plane conductivity of 3D hybridized structure [J]. Small, 2020, 1681903315

[45] LeeH, RhoJ, MessersmithP B. Facile conjugation of biomolecules onto surfaces via mussel adhesive protein inspired coatings [J]. Advanced Materials, 2009, 214431-434

[46] CaoY-Z, ZhangX-Y, TaoL, et al.. Mussel-inspired chemistry and Michael addition reaction for efficient oil/water separation [J]. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2013, 5(10): 4438-4442

[47] ZouR, LiuF, HuN, et al.. 1-Pyrenemethanol derived nanocrystal reinforced graphene films with high thermal conductivity and flexibility [J]. Nanotechnology, 2020, 31(6): 065602

[48] MiaoJ, LiH-L, QiuH-X, et al.. Graphene/PANI hybrid film with enhanced thermal conductivity by in situ polymerization [J]. Journal of Materials Science, 2018, 53128855-8865

[49] ZouR, LiuF, HuN, et al.. Carbonized polydopamine nanoparticle reinforced graphene films with superior thermal conductivity [J]. Carbon, 2019, 149: 173-180

[50] YuanH C, LeeC Y, TaiN H. Extremely high thermal conductivity of nanodiamond-polydopamine/thin-layer graphene composite films [J]. Composites Science and Technology, 2018, 167: 313-322

[51] HeckmannA, FrommO, RodehorstU, et al.. New insights into electrochemical anion intercalation into carbonaceous materials for dual-ion batteries: Impact of the graphitization degree [J]. Carbon, 2018, 131: 201-212

[52] NiuY-A, FangQ-H, ZhangX, et al.. Structural evolution, induced effects and graphitization mechanism of reduced graphene oxide sheets/polyimide composites [J]. Composites Part B: Engineering, 2018, 134: 127-132

[53] WangC, XiaoB, DingY-H. Theoretical investigation on the healing mechanism of divacancy defect in graphene growth by reaction with ethylene and acetylene [J]. New Journal of Chemistry, 2013, 37(3): 640-645

[54] BotariT, PaupitzR, Alves Da Silva AutretoP, et al.. Graphene healing mechanisms: A theoretical investigation [J]. Carbon, 2016, 99: 302-309

[55] WangN, SamaniM K, LiH, et al.. Tailoring the thermal and mechanical properties of graphene film by structural engineering [J]. Small, 2018, 14(29): 1801346

[56] HuangH-G, MingX, WangY-Z, et al.. Polyacrylonitrile-derived thermally conductive graphite film via graphene template effect [J]. Carbon, 2021, 180197-203