Scalable production of thick graphene films for next generation thermal management applications

With the increasing demand on integration and better performance of portable electronics devices, the system operation temperatures are expected to continue to increase, leading eventually to degeneration in functional performance and reliability. Therefore, demand for thermal management materials that effectively spread heat and reduce heat density is urgent. The existing solution of pyrolytic graphite film (PGF) is unsatisfactory due to their low heat flux carrying capacity or low thermal conductivity, as well as poor mechanical performance. This work solves the problem by substituting ultra-thick (>75 mm) graphene film (GF) for PGF, offering more than three times higher heat flux carrying capacity. The conjugation of large crystallinity and firm structures endows GFs with excellent thermal conductive performance (up to 1204 +/- 35 W m(-1) K-1), great heat flux carrying capacity, and good foldability (5000 cycles folding). In addition to this, such a GF is produced based on an economically efficient and quasi industrial method incorporating continuous high-pressure homogenization processing (HPH), indicating an enormous potential as a new pathway to thermal management applications. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.