Enhanced interfacial thermal transport across graphene–polymer interfaces by grafting polymer chains. (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Mingchao; Hu, Ning; Zhou, Limin; Yan, Cheng
• Is Part Of: Carbon. Volume 85(2015)
• Page Start: 414
• Page End: 421
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: Carbon -- Periodicals; Carbone -- Périodiques; Koolstof; Toepassingen; Electronic journals; 546.681
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2015.01.009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-6223

Abstract

Abstract: Thermal transport in graphene–polymer nanocomposite is complicated and has not been well understood. The interfacial thermal transport between graphene nanofiller and polymer matrix is expected to play a key role in controlling the overall thermal performance of graphene–polymer nanocomposite. In this work, we investigated the thermal transport across graphene–polymer interfaces functionalized with end-grafted polymer chains using molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of grafting density, chain length and initial morphology on the interfacial thermal transport were systematically investigated. It was found that end-grafted polymer chains could significantly enhance interfacial thermal transport and the underlying mechanism was considered to be the enhanced vibration coupling between graphene and polymer. In addition, a theoretical model based on effective medium theory was established to predict the thermal conductivity in graphene–polymer nanocomposites.