Graphene Thermal Properties: Applications in Thermal Management and Energy Storage

• Main Authors: Jackie D. Renteria, Denis L. Nika, Alexander A. Balandin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014-11-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: graphene; thermal conductivity; graphene applications; thermal phase change materials
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/4/4/525

We review the thermal properties of graphene, few-layer graphene and graphene nanoribbons, and discuss practical applications of graphene in thermal management and energy storage. The first part of the review describes the state-of-the-art in the graphene thermal field focusing on recently reported experimental and theoretical data for heat conduction in graphene and graphene nanoribbons. The effects of the sample size, shape, quality, strain distribution, isotope composition, and point-defect concentration are included in the summary. The second part of the review outlines thermal properties of graphene-enhanced phase change materials used in energy storage. It is shown that the use of liquid-phase-exfoliated graphene as filler material in phase change materials is promising for thermal management of high-power-density battery parks. The reported experimental and modeling results indicate that graphene has the potential to outperform metal nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, and other carbon allotropes as filler in thermal management materials.