Graphitic thin films hit high temperatures within seconds under low voltage.

Combining multiple carbon nanomaterials in a single substance can yield surprising properties. KAUST researchers have created thin graphite films that could act as high-performance flexible heater panels, reaching several hundred degrees within seconds when a small voltage is applied. They also showed that the key to the material’s exceptional heating performance is graphene domains within the graphite film.

As outstanding thermal conductors, graphitic carbon nanomaterials are increasingly used for heat management, for example, to dissipate heat from microchips. The same materials could also be used as electric heaters.

“There’s a need to develop low-power, flexible heater panels, and nanocarbons are key contenders,” says G. Deokar, a postdoc in Pedro Costa's lab, who led the work. “So far, however, their electrothermal performance has been limited,” she adds. Nanocarbon-based heaters commonly require an input of 20-60 volts to reach a 250 degrees Celsius target temperature. They can also degrade rapidly when heated in air.

Costa, Deokar and their colleagues recently developed a method to manufacture nanoscale-thick graphite films (NGFs) at wafer-scale. They also were able to easily transfer them to arbitrary substrates, without the residues often present in graphene panels. “These characteristics of the NGF prompted us to investigate their application in thermal management technologies,” Deokar says.

Read more on KAUST Discovery.