Highly flexible twill-structured carbon fiber fabric with ultra-high thermal conductivity

We fabricated twill-structured carbon fiber fabric to allow carbon fiber itself to be used as a thermal management material. Twill-structured carbon fiber fabric shows efficient heat transfer, with ultrahigh thermal conductivity of 200 W/mK. Notably, preserving 40 % of carbon fiber’s 500 W/mK conductivity is a remarkable achievement in carbon fiber applications compared to previous polymer composites using carbon fibers. Furthermore, the unique twill structure allows directional stretching with strain of 15 %, fulfilling requirements for soft electronics. Therefore, our study offers valuable insights into the role of carbon fiber fabric in advanced electronics by addressing the intricate balance between thermal performance and mechanical properties. © The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.