Graphene-based elastic heat spreader films

1. An elastic heat spreader film comprising:

A) An elastomer or rubber as a binder material or a matrix material; and

B) multiple graphene sheets that are bonded by said binder material or dispersed in said matrix material, wherein said multiple graphene sheets are substantially aligned to be parallel to one another and wherein said elastomer or rubber is in an amount from 0.001% to 20% by weight based on the total heat spreader film weight and contains a material selected from natural polyisoprene, synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, metailocene-based poly(ethylene-co-octene) elastomer, poly(ethylene-co-butene) elastomer, styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene elastomer, epichlorohydrin rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, perfluoro-elastomers, polyether block amides, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, thermoplastic elastomer, protein resilin, protein elastin, ethylene oxide-epichlorohydrin copolymer, polyurethane, urethane-urea copolymer, a sulfonated version thereof, or a combination thereof;

wherein said multiple graphene sheets contain graphene sheets selected from a pristine graphene material having essentially zero % of non-carbon elements, or a non-pristine graphene material having 0.001% to 25% by weight of non-carbon elements wherein said non-pristine graphene is selected from graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, graphene fluoride, graphene chloride, graphene bromide, graphene iodide, hydrogenated graphene, nitrogenated graphene, doped graphene, chemically functionalized graphene, or a combination thereof; and wherein said elastic heat spreader film has a fully recoverable tensile elastic strain from 2% to 100% and an in-plane thermal conductivity from 200 W/mK to 1,750 W/mK;

wherein said graphene sheets contain a chemical functional group selected from OY, NHY, O═C—OY, P═C—NR′Y, O═C—SY, O═C—Y, —CR′1-OY, N′Y or C′Y, and Y is a functional group of a protein, a peptide, an amino acid, an enzyme, an antibody, a nucleotide, an oligonucleotide, an antigen, or an enzyme substrate, enzyme inhibitor or the transition state analog of an enzyme substrate.

2. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said heat spreader film has a thickness from 5 nm to 500 μm.

3. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said graphene sheets are in an amount from 80% to 99.9% by weight.

4. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said elastic heat spreader film has a thickness t, a front surface, and a back surface, wherein said elastomer or rubber is present in a zone from said front surface to a distance ¼ t deep into said film and/or in a zone from said back surface to a distance ¼ t deep into said film and there is an elastomer-free core.

5. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said elastic heat spreader film has a thickness t and an elastomer-free core size from 1/10 t to ⅘ t.

6. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , having a tensile strength no less than 300 MPa, a tensile modulus no less than 75 GPa, a thermal conductivity no less than 500 W/mK, and/or an electrical conductivity no less than 5,000 S/cm, all measured along a thin film plane direction.

7. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , having a tensile strength no less than 400 MPa, a tensile modulus no less than 150 GPa, a thermal conductivity no less than 800 W/mK, and/or an electrical conductivity no less than 8,000 S/cm, all measured along a thin film plane direction.

8. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , having a tensile strength no less than 500 MPa, a tensile modulus no less than 250 GPa, a thermal conductivity no less than 1,200 W/mK, and/or an electrical conductivity no less than 12,000 S/cm, all measured along a thin film plane direction.

9. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , having a tensile strength no less than 600 MPa, a tensile modulus no less than 350 GPa, a thermal conductivity no less than 1,500 W/mK, and/or an electrical conductivity no less than 20,000 S/cm, all measured along a thin film plane direction.

10. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said graphene sheets contain a functional group attached thereto to make the graphene sheets exhibit a negative Zeta potential from −55 mV to −0.1 mV.

11. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said graphene sheets contain a chemical functional group selected from alkyl or aryl silane, alkyl or aralkyl group, hydroxyl group, carboxyl group, epoxide, carbonyl group, amine group, sulfonate group (—SO 3 H), aldehydic group, quinoidal, fluorocarbon, or a combination thereof.

12. The elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , wherein said graphene sheets contain chemically functionalized graphene sheets having a chemical functional group selected from the group consisting of amidoamines, polyamides, aliphatic amines, modified aliphatic amines, cycloaliphatic amines, aromatic amines, anhydrides, ketimines, diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylene-tetramine (TETA), tetraethylene-pentamine (TEPA), polyethylene polyamine, polyamine epoxy adduct, phenolic hardener, non-brominated curing agent, non-amine curatives, and combinations thereof.

13. An electronic device containing the elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , as a thermal management element.

14. A structural member containing the elastic heat spreader film of claim 1 , as a load-bearing and thermal management element.