Paraffin-Multilayer Graphene Composite for Thermal Management in Electronics

Multilayer graphene-paraffin composites with different contents of graphene (0-10 wt.%) were prepared using an ultra-high shear mixer. The aim is to improve the heat transfer in paraffin wax, which will lead to more-efficient thermal buffering in electronic applications. The multi-layer graphenes obtained by supercritical fluid exfoliation of graphite in alcohol were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Interesting morphological features were found to be related to the intercalation of paraffins between the multilayer graphene flakes. Thermal properties were also investigated in terms of phase change transition temperatures, latent heat by differential scanning calorimetry and thermal conductivity. It was found that the addition of graphene resulted in a slight decrease in energy storage capacity but a 150% improvement in thermal conductivity at the highest graphene loading level. This phase-change material is then used as a thermal heat sink for an embedded electronic processor. The temperature of the processor during the execution of a pre-defined programme was used as a performance indicator. The use of materials with multilayer graphene contents of more than 5 wt.% was found to reduce the processor operating temperature by up to 20%. This indicates that the use of such composite materials can significantly improve the performance of processors.