Study on interfacial thermal transport between adjacent graphene edges

BC Wang and W Shao and Q Cao and XT Ma and T Zhu and Z Cui and LY Yang, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE, 60, 12818-12830 (2025).

DOI: 10.1007/s10853-025-11196-8

Constructing graphene networks has been an intensive subject in enhancing the thermal conductivity of graphene/epoxy composites, which have been widely used in microelectronic circuits. However, the heat transfer efficiency of the graphene network remains limited due to the significant thermal resistance at the junctions of adjacent graphene sheets. Here, a partially stacked bilayer graphene model is developed to serve as a representative volume element of the graphene network, and the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations are employed to investigate the effect of the graphene edge on the graphene-graphene interfacial thermal resistance. The findings reveal that zigzag edges promote optimal thermal transport at the interface, followed by armchair edges, whereas Klein edges and hydrogen-passivated zigzag edges exhibit the highest interfacial thermal resistance. Further investigation indicates that an increase in the number of dangling atoms on Klein edges results in thermal transfer characteristics akin to those of hydrogen-passivated edges, with interfacial thermal resistance escalating at an accelerated pace. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that the introduction of sufficiently large grooves along the edges of graphene can significantly enhance interfacial thermal transport. This research provides valuable theoretical insights for improving heat transfer in graphene/epoxy composites and their potential industrial applications.

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