Seeking advanced thermal management for stretchable electronics

Abstract With the trend of integration, miniaturization, and increasing power density of stretchable electronic devices, real-time thermal dissipation is becoming crucial. Seeking materials and/or structures with advanced thermal management for stretchable electronics becomes an urgent issue. For passive thermal management, the traditional thermal interfacial materials (TIMs) with flexibility cannot meet the demand of stretchable electronics, because stretchable devices are usually required to experience a large scale of bending, twisting, stretching, and so on. The main challenge facing thermal management for stretchable electronics is how to maintain stable thermal conductance under large deformation. Here, we examine the development of materials and structures available in this field. We also propose a comparative analysis of the existing challenges and provide possible solutions for the thermal management of stretchable electronics in the future.