Thermally conductive phase-change composites with double endothermic reactions through chemical grafting of erythritol and encapsulation of docosane

In this study, a high-performance PCM composites with double-section heat absorption was developed by integrating physical and chemical introduction of PCM. The synthesized epoxy–erythritol (EPET) matrix exhibited an endothermic reaction at 110–124 °C. After incorporating SiO2-encapsulated docosane (SD), EPET/SD exhibited double endothermic reactions at temperature ranges of 40–60 °C and 110–124 °C. To increase its thermal conductivity along the perpendicular direction, the composite was loaded with up to 40 wt% boron nitride (BN). Consequently, EPET/SD/BN achieved a high thermal conductivity of 5.17 W/m·K and a total latent heat of 114 J/g. When applied to a central processing unit, the composite effectively buffered heat owing to its double endothermic reactions and the large latent heat of the PCM. This strategy of forming multiple endothermic sections provides more useful responding to various operating condition of electric devices than prior PCM based TIM, which has great potential for future research on PCM-based materials for the thermal management system of electronic devices.