Yield‐Stress Composite Fluids With High Thermal Conductivity and Tunable Rheology via Hierarchical Filler Architecture

View at publisher
Authors: Shujun Cai, Jianfeng Fan, Jiahui Wang, Yabiao Ma, Yuanyuan Xiao, Siyuan Cheng, Gaohong Lv, Xiaoxing Zeng, Xiaoxing Zeng, Jianbin Xu, Linlin Ren, Yagang Yao
+3 more Xiaoliang Zeng, Xiaoliang Zeng, Rong Sun
Cited by: 3
References: 41

Abstract

ABSTRACT Yield‐stress fluid can reversibly transform between the rigidity of a solid and the fluidity of a liquid, providing mechanical adaptability for its reprocessing and long‐term stability. For thermal management applications, however, this adaptability must be coupled with high thermal conductivity—an objective hindered by the conventional trade‐off between viscosity, and yield stress. Here, we propose a hierarchical filler architecture strategy by incorporating aluminum nitride particles of multiple sizes into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix to construct a multi‐level dynamic network. Small particles fill the interstices between larger ones, creating dense, percolated thermal pathways while enabling reversible network breakdown and reconstruction under shear. This design achieves an unprecedented combination of low viscosity (731.3 Pa s at 10 s −1 ), tunable yield stress (from 37.3 to 802.3 Pa), and high thermal conductivity (12.0 W m −1 K −1 ) in a yield‐stress composite fluid. Comprehensive rheological characterization reveals excellent thixotropic recovery and mechanical robustness, while physics‐informed neural network (PINN) modeling. When yielding stress fluid is used as a thermal interface material, the fluidity of liquid‐like form can achieve efficient distribution, and the rigidity of solid‐like form can achieve long‐term reliability. These findings provide a new approach for designing advanced yield‐stress fluids with controllable rheological properties and excellent thermal performance for high‐performance thermal management applications.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Thermal properties of materials Polymer Foaming and Composites Rheology and Fluid Dynamics Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Small
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
22
Issue
15
Pages
e13010–e13010
Publication date
17 January 2026
Language
EN