Soft and thermally conductive gels by introducing free-movable polymer chains into network

The rapid development of electronic devices has been putting forward requirements for higher thermal conductivity, softness, and stability of thermal interface materials. However, thermal interface materials simultaneously achieving softness, stability, and thermal conductivity is still challenging. Here, we propose a strategy of introducing free-movable polymer chains to prepare thermally conductive gels possessing high thermal conductivity (6.91 W m−1 K−1), good softness (Young's modulus ∼400 KPa, and stretchability increasing 262.4%). The high thermal conductivity is due to the high addition of microscale spherical Aluminum. The good softness is attributed to the free-movable poly (ethylene propylene diene), which reduces the interaction between polymer networks. When thermally conductive gels simulate practical applications, it shows excellent heat-dissipation ability and thermal stability after 1000 heating-cooling cycles. This work provides a simple strategy for constructing thermally conductive gels with high performance and promotes their potential applications in the thermal management of electronic devices.