Recent advances in nacre-inspired anisotropic thermally conductive polymeric nanocomposites
Qiang Chen, Zhewen Ma, Mingchao Wang, Zhengzhou Wang, Jiabing Feng, Venkata S. Chevali, Pingan Song
Abstract
The rapid development of miniaturized, highly integrated, and multifunctional modern electronic devices has generated a growing demand for anisotropic heat dissipation in polymer nanocomposites for thermal management applications. These anisotropic thermally conductive multifunctional polymer nanocomposites use bio-inspired structural design based on natural nacre, which is the gold standard for biomimetics. However, to date, a comprehensive review and critique on the highly-anisotropic thermal conduction of nacre-mimetic nanocomposites is nonexistent. As such, this extensive review of the nacre-inspired highly anisotropic thermal management nanocomposites summarizes the current design strategies, and explains the thermal conduction mechanisms, and factors affecting anisotropic thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the practical applications of the as-prepared nacre-inspired highly anisotropic nanocomposites are highlighted. Finally, the key challenges and potential solution strategies associated with these nacre-inspired highly anisotropic nanocomposites are discussed and outlooks for future research opportunities are also proposed.