Preparation of ultrahigh thermally conductive materials of graphene composites by electrophoresis on carbon fiber

Novel materials with high thermal conductivity are urgently needed to solve the problem of thermal diffusion with the rapid development of science and technology. Experiments have been conducted to join polydopamine (PDA) with graphene (G) and carbon fibers (CF) using electrophoresis to form a G/PDA@CF material with ultrahigh thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity has been improved by a factor of 6, which has ultrahigh thermally conductive properties. The composite doubled the tensile strength relative to the original material. Experiments were designed to test the thermal conductivity of G/PDA@CF. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses of the material were carried out to obtain the formation mechanism of G/PDA@CF. The SEM image shows that PDA and G formed a layered self-assembled structure on the CF surface. The XRD image shows the existence of G in G/PDA@CF. The XPS analysis obtained the bonding species between the G and PDA, CF and PDA. The phonon spectra were then calculated by microcanonical ensembles (NVE). The PDA has ultrahigh thermal conductivity due to the high overlap of its phonon spectrum with G, which leads to its high strength thermal conductivity of G/PDA@CF. G/PDA@CF material can be used for flexible screens, housings for wearable devices, and thermally conductive devices.