학술논문

Effect of Polymeric In SituStabilizers on Dispersion Homogeneity of Nanofillers and Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Composites
Document Type
Article
Source
Langmuir; May 2020, Vol. 36 Issue: 20 p5563-5570, 8p
Subject
Language
ISSN
07437463; 15205827
Abstract
Boron nitride (BN) nanofiller-based polymer composites have been considered promising candidates for efficient heat-dissipating packaging materials because of their superior thermal conductivity, mechanical strength, and chemical resistance. However, strong aggregation of the BN nanofillers in the composite matrix as well as the difficulty in the modification of the chemically inert surface prevents their effective use in polymer composites. Herein, we report an effective method by using in situstabilizers to achieve homogeneous dispersion of boron nitride (BN) nanofillers in an epoxy-based polymeric matrix and demonstrate their use as efficient heat-dissipating materials. Poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) is designed and added into the epoxy resin to produce in situstabilizers during preparation of hexagonal BNs (h-BNs) and BN nanotubes (BNNTs) dispersion. In-depth experimental and theoretical studies indicated that the homogeneous distribution of BN nanofillers in epoxy composites achieved by using the in situstabilizer enhanced the thermal conductivity of the composite by ∼27% at the same concentration of the BN nanofillers. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the h-BN/epoxy composite (∼3.3 W/mK) was dramatically improved by ∼48% (4.9 W/mK) when the homogeneously dispersed BNNTs (∼1.8 vol %) were added. The concept of the proposed in situstabilizer can be further utilized to prepare the epoxy composites with the homogeneous distribution of BN nanofillers, which is critical for reproducible and position-independent composite properties.