Improvement of Thermal Conductivity of Silicone by Carbon Nanotube Array (CNTA)

Abstract

In order to improve the thermal conductivity of silicone, we prepared silicone/carbon nanotube array (CNTA) composite by immersing the CNTA into silicone solution and cured at 110 °C. The thermal conductivity of silicone and silicone/CNTA composite was measured by laser flash method at 30 °C, 60 °C, 90 °C, 120 °C, which are usually the operating temperatures. It was found that the thermal conductivity of silicone/CNTA composite increased with the temperature until achieved the plateau near 90 °C. The maximum thermal conductivity of silicone/CNTA composite is 0.674 W/mK, which is 220% higher than that of neat silicone. The excellent thermal conductivity makes the composite a promising thermal interface material.