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Synergetic enhancement of thermal conductivity by constructing BN and AlN hybrid network in epoxy matrix

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Abstract

Thermal management has developed into a severe issue with the evolution of electronics. The construction of effectively thermal conduction pathways in the matrix is crucial for highly thermal conductive composites. In this work, a unique thermal conductive channel in the epoxy matrix had been established with hybridizing hexagonal boron nitride (BN) sheets and aluminum nitride (AlN) particles through a solution mixture and hot-pressing method. Synergetic enhancement of thermal conductivity was observed between BN and AlN fillers owing to the better dispersion of hybrid fillers, which created more pathways for phonon transport. With 40 vol% hybrid BN-AlN filler contents, the thermal conductivity of EP composite reached 2.4 Wm−1 K−1, eightfold increasing over the pristine epoxy matrix and two times to that of single BN or AlN filling composite. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of hybrid composite was further improved by more than 10% through the surface treatment of fillers with silane couple agents owing to the enhancement of interaction in composites. This study is of critical importance for composites used in electronics and electric equipment.

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We declared that materials described in the manuscript, including all relevant raw data, will be freely available to any scientist wishing to use them for non-commercial purposes, without breaching participant confidentiality.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51773167, 21706208).

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Funding

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51773167, 21,706,208).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The School of Printing and Packaging & Digital Media, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, 710048, People’s Republic of China

    Di Liang, Penggang Ren, Fang Ren, Yanling Jin, Jin Wang, Chuting Feng & Qian Duan

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  1. Di Liang
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  2. Penggang Ren
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  3. Fang Ren
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  4. Yanling Jin
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  5. Jin Wang
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  7. Qian Duan
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Di Liang, Penggang Ren, Fang Ren and Jin Wang. Writing - review and editing were performed by Yanling Jin, Chuting Feng, Qian Duan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Di Liang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Penggang Ren.

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Liang, D., Ren, P., Ren, F. et al. Synergetic enhancement of thermal conductivity by constructing BN and AlN hybrid network in epoxy matrix. J Polym Res 27, 212 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-020-02193-3

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