GNPs Reinforced Epoxy Nanocomposites Used as Thermal Interface Materials

Abstract

The current tendency in electronics is the reduction of size while continuously increasing the power consumption due to new functionalities and applications. Both aspects generate a heat increment. Consequently, dissipating the heat to the environment is necessary in order to avoid component overheating. [1,2]. The most efficient way to achieve it is to allow the heat to flow from the hot component to a heat sink. In order to improve the efficiency of this process, thermal resistance between both components must be reduced which is usually done by using a thermal interface material (TIM) between both surfaces [3-5]. This material should fill the gaps created due to the microscopic roughness of both surfaces and it must have good thermal conductivity [6]. These air filled gaps result in a very high contact resistance between joined parts, as the air thermal conductivity is very low [7].