A Review on Thermal Conductivity of Polymer Composites Using Carbon-Based Fillers : Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Fibers

Recently, the use of thermal conductive polymeric composites is growing up, where the polymers filled with the thermally conductive fillers effectively dissipate heat generated from electronic components. Therefore, the management of heat is directly related to the lifetime of electronic devices. For the purpose of the improvement of thermal conductivity of composites, fillers with excellent thermally conductive behavior are commonly used. Thermally conductive particles filled polymer composites have advantages due to their easy processibility, low cost, and durability to the corrosion. Especially, carbon-based 1-dimensional nanomaterials such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and carbon nanofiber (CNF) have gained much attention for their excellent thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient than the metals. This paper aims to review the research trends in the improvement of thermal conductivity of the carbon-based materials filled polymer composites.