Reconfigurable thermal Pathways: Liquid Metal-Enhanced graphene Frameworks for Stable thermal management

Abstract

Conventional thermal interface materials (TIMs) face a persistent trade-off between high thermal conductivity and mechanical reliability. To address this, a composite film with reconfigurable thermal pathways was developed by infusing liquid metal-containing silicone rubber into a graphene skeleton. The optimized composite achieves an exceptional through-plane thermal conductivity of 23.58 W·m⁻¹K⁻¹, a low thermal contact resistance of 10.7 K·mm²·W⁻¹ and a compression modulus of 298.3 kPa at a graphene loading of only 5 wt%. The reconfiguration capability of thermal pathways stems from a pressure-induced mechanism: under compression, LM droplets deform and coalesce, thereby dynamically reconnecting disrupted thermal pathways. This enables the film to retain over 92 % of its initial thermal conductivity under 1500 kPa pressure, and 88 % after 10 compression cycles. Validated by experiments and theoretical analysis, this work offers a thermal interface material solution with high vertical thermal conductivity and flexibility for thermal management in high-power electronic devices.