With the increasing integration and miniaturization of electronic devices, heat dissipation has become a major challenge. The traditional printed polymer circuit board can no longer meet the heat dissipation demands of microelectronic equipment. If the heat cannot be removed quickly and effectively, the efficiency of the devices will be decreased and their lifetime will be shortened. In addition, the development of the aerospace, automobiles, light emitting diode (LED{ TA \1 "LED; lightemitting diode" \s "LED" \c 1 }) and energy harvesting and conversion has gradually increased the demand for low-density and high thermal conductive materials. In recent years, carbon fiber (CF{ TA \1 "CF; carbon fiber" \c 1 }) has been widely used for the preparation of polymer composites due to its good mechanical property and ultra-high thermal conductivity. CF materials easily form thermal conduction paths through polymer composites to improve the thermal conductivity. This paper describes the research progress, thermal conductivity mechanisms, preparation methods, factors influencing thermal conductivity and provides relevant suggestions for the development of CF composites for thermal management.
Keywords: carbon fiber; polymer composite; thermal conductivity.