High thermal conductivity in soft elastomers with elongated liquid metal inclusions

Significance 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 (<100…

• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: NNX14AO49G
• AF
  Air Force Office of Scientific Research

  Award: FA9550-13-1-0123
• AR
  Army Research Office

  Award: W911NF-14-0350
• OO
  Office of Naval Research Global

  Award: N00014140778