Thermally conducting polymer/nanocarbon and polymer/inorganic nanoparticle nanocomposite: a review

ABSTRACT

This review addresses fundamentals and progress in field of thermally conducting polymer/nanocarbon nanocomposite. Upsurge in thermal conductivity of materials may lead to rapid heat diffusion, which in turn may prevent degradation. Thermally conductive nanofillers (carbon nanotube, graphene, nanodiamond, inorganics) have been effectively employed to form desired nanocomposite. In polymer/nanocarbon nanocomposites, thermal conductivity depends on nanofiller type, dispersion, loading level, polymer nature, morphology, and crystallinity. Thermal conductivity parameter has been significantly considered in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and energy-related industries, where thermal dissipation has become a challenging problem. In future, it is desired to design high performance nanocomposites with manageable thermal conduction.

Graphical abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer
• nanocarbon
• dispersion
• dissipation
• electronics

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayesha Kausar

Ayesha Kausar has experience of working at National Centre for Physics, Islamabad, Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. She obtained her PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad/KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), Graduate School of EEWS, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. Her research interests include: synthesis, characterization and structure-property relationships of new polymeric materials; synthesis of nanomaterials including organic–inorganic nanocomposites/hybrid materials; polymeric blends via incorporating nanoparticles into thin polymer films; exploring practical and potential prospects of the novel synthesized materials (new polymers and nanomaterials) counting morphological, mechanical, thermal, electrical, conducting, etc.; flame retardant materials; proton conducting fuel cell membranes; nanocomposites for polymer Li-ion battery electrodes; composites based on electrospun nanofibers; production of various polymeric nanoparticles and their composites for solar cells; polymer/carbon nanotube/nanoparticle composites for water treatment; potential of polymer/graphite nanocomposites; polymer/graphene hybrids; polymer/fullerene nanomaterials; fabrication of epoxy-based nanocomposite for various applications; radar absorbing materials; aerospace relevance, and other technical relevances.