Improved thermal conductivity of graphene encapsulated poly(methyl methacrylate) nanocomposite adhesives with low loading amount of graphene

Adhesive nanocomposites, which have potential use as light-weight thermal interface materials for heat removal in electronic devices, were prepared by using graphene-encapsulated poly(methyl methacrylate) microparticles with two different loading amounts of graphene (0.9 and 0.09 wt.%), and their thermal conductivities were compared. Three different types of graphene-encapsulated microparticles (large, small, and those with a rough surface with an internal pore structure) were fabricated and characterized. Adhesive nanocomposites were UV cured easily to a solid state via thiol-ene reaction. The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites prepared in this study was 200% higher than that of a simple blend of poly(methyl methacrylate) and graphene, despite the low amounts of graphene encapsulation. The results suggest that an improvement in thermal conductivity can be achieved by effective adhesion of graphene to the surface of microparticle. This new approach can be applied where light-weight or transparency is required in addition to transport performance.