Flexible Sheet Heater with Carbon Nanotube Networked Thin Graphite Flakes

Carbon nanomaterials have attracted much attention for heater applications due to their outstanding thermal characteristics [1-3]. Also, sheet heaters made from carbon nanomaterials have drawn on going interest of automobile industry as a promising candidate for heater applications due to the flexibility, low power consumption, and rapid response. Despite of potential possibilitis of carbon nanomaterials for heater applications, it is needed to improve the electrical conductivity and mechanical durability for practical use such as seat heater.

In this study, we fabricated sheet heater using thin graphite flakes to improve electrical conductivity and multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) to ehnance the mechanical stability of sheet heaters. The thin graphite flakes and amide functionalized MWCNT were blended with polyester resin and printed on a PET film by screen printing method. Fabricated sheet heaters show uniform heat distribution compared to conventional wire heater. And then, we fabricated large area heater same as seat heater for automobile application to evaluate the feasibility of the sheet heater. Heating characteristics of the sheet heater was analyzed in correlation with microstructure and electrical characteristics.

 This research was financially supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy(MOTIE) and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology(KIAT) through the Promoting Regional specialized Industry

References

[1] Daewoong Jung, Donghyun Kim, Kyung H. Lee, Lawrence J. Overzet, Gil S. Lee, Sensors and Actuators: A 199, 176 (2013).

[2] Hoon-Sik Jang, Sang Koo Jeon, Seung Hoon Nahm, CARBON 49, 111 (2011).

[3] Hyeongwook Im, Eui Yun Jang, Ajeong Choi, Wal Jun Kim, Tae June Kang, Yung Woo Park, and Yong Hyup Kim, Appl. Mater. Interfaces 4, 2338 (2012).