Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy Laminate Composites Constructed with Three-Dimensional Carbon Fiber Felt

The matter of improving the heat dissipation performance of electronic packaging materials has a positive effect on solving the heat accumulation problem caused by the high power density of electronic devices. In this work, the carbon fiber felt (CFF) with three-dimensional (3D) network structure was first prepared by a vacuum filtration method. Epoxy/CFF laminate composites were then obtained from the CFF with different layers by a compression confinement process. The effect of carbon fillers on thermal properties was investigated, and the thermal conductivity mechanism was described. The filtration process results in the formation of a CFF with a certain orientation. The CFF presents a three-dimensional network structure, which provides an efficient thermally conductive framework for the composites. The results show that the thermal performance of the Epoxy/CFF composites is anisotropic, with a maximum in-plane thermal conductivity value (K) of 22.69 W/mK at 32.22 vol% filler loading. Meanwhile, the thermal management test reveals that the composites have excellent heat transfer capability and a good heat dissipation effect in practical application. This proves that the obtained composites are promising thermal management materials for heat dissipation in electronic devices.