High thermal conductivity in soft elastomers with elongated liquid metal inclusions
Abstract
Efficient thermal transport is critical for applications ranging from electronics and energy to advanced manufacturing and transportation; it is essential in emerging domains like wearable computing and soft robotics, which require thermally conductive materials that are also soft and stretchable. However, heat transport within soft materials is limited by the dynamics of phonon transport, which results in a trade-off between thermal conductivity and compliance. We overcome this by engineering an elastomer composite embedded with elongated inclusions of liquid metal (LM) that function as thermally conductive pathways. These composites exhibit an extraordinary combination of low stiffness (600%), and metal-like thermal conductivity (up to 9.8 W⋅m −1 ⋅K −1 ) that far exceeds any other soft materials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1616377114
Entities
People
- Carmel Majidi
- Jonathan A Malen
- Matthew J. Powell-palm
- Michael D. Bartlett
- Navid Kazem
- Wenhuan Sun
- Xiaonan Huang
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Army Research Office
- Carnegie Mellon University
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Office of Naval Research Global