Herein, macroporous carbon foams were successfully prepared with phenol and formaldehyde as carbon precursors and an ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIPF6), as a pore generator by employing a polymerization-induced phase separation method. During the polycondensation reaction of phenol and formaldehyde, BMIPF6 forms a clustered structure which in turn yields macropores upon carbonization. The morphology, pore structure, electrical conductivity of carbon foams were investigated in terms of the amount of the ionic liquid. The as-prepared macroporous carbon foams had around 100-150 μm-sized pores. More importantly, the electrical conductivity of the carbon foams was linearly improved by the addition of BMIPF6. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first result reporting the possibility of the use of an ionic liquid to prepare porous carbon materials.

Recently, the use of thermal conductive polymeric composites is growing up, where the polymers filled with the thermally conductive fillers effectively dissipate heat generated from electronic components. Therefore, the management of heat is directly related to the lifetime of electronic devices. For the purpose of the improvement of thermal conductivity of composites, fillers with excellent thermally conductive behavior are commonly used. Thermally conductive particles filled polymer composites have advantages due to their easy processibility, low cost, and durability to the corrosion. Especially, carbon-based 1-dimensional nanomaterials such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and carbon nanofiber (CNF) have gained much attention for their excellent thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient than the metals. This paper aims to review the research trends in the improvement of thermal conductivity of the carbon-based materials filled polymer composites.