A Review on Enhancing Thermal Conductivity of Transparent and Flexible Polymer Composites

Abstract

This paper reviews the thermal conductivity (TC) enhancement of transparent and flexible polymer composites. Poly-dimethyl siloxane (PDMS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyimides (PI) are considered. The physical properties of these polymers reinforced with many highly conductive fillers have been investigated by both experimental and numerical approaches. Many experimental methods and measurement techniques used for these polymer composites have been collected here. In addition, various well-known TC models used for predicting the TC of composite materials are also shown systematically, suggesting that each model is appropriate for only specific polymer composites. The investigation indicates that PDMS filled with carbon-based fillers (particularly multi-walled carbon nanotubes) and PI filled with ceramic fillers have received the most significant interest for enhancing the TC of transparent and flexible polymer composites. However, the TC of PET polymer filled with highly conductive fillers should be considered extensively in the near future.