Boosted the thermal conductivity of liquid metal via bridging diamond particles with graphite

Abstract

The liquid metal (LM) composite is regarded as having potential and wide-ranging applications in electronic thermal management. Enhancing the thermal conductivity of LM is a crucial matter. Herein, a novel LM composite of eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn)/diamond/graphite was developed. A highest thermal conductivity of 133 ± 3 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ was achieved, 411 % higher than that of the matrix. The bonding mechanism reveals that the interfacial adsorption energy ($\Delta E$) of graphite and EGaIn can be effectively decreased by the functional groups of graphite (by −108 % for –OH and −125 % for −CO) and the oxide of EGaIn (by −64 %). Furthermore, the $\Delta E$ of diamond and EGaIn can be significantly reduced through the oxidation of EGaIn (by −83 %) and the H-terminal of diamond (by −187 %). The thermal conductance mechanism suggests that a 3 vol% graphite content in the EGaIn/40 vol% diamond/graphite composite can form an excellent thermal conductance bridge among diamond particles. However, the thermal conductivity of the composite significantly decreased when too much graphite was added due to the tendency of the graphite to coat the diamond particles. There was no significant change in the melting point of EGaIn after being mixed with diamond and graphite. The EGaIn/diamond/graphite composite also demonstrated excellent thermal management performance in LED lamps and CPU heat dissipation as a thermal interface material, particularly in high-power electronic devices. This work presents the potential to enhance the thermal conductivity of LM-based composite by bridging spheroidal particles with a flaky material.