Enhanced thermal conductivity of epoxy composites with ternary particle size through the use of hybrid polyhedral α-alumina oxide and aluminum nitride

Abstract

With the continued trends toward electronic device miniaturization, functionalization, and increased integration, epoxy-based cost-effective polymer composites with excellent thermal conductivity, dielectric performance, and processability are in high demand for the thermal management of electronic devices. An effective and continuous thermal transport pathway for epoxy composites was constructed by using a ternary-particle-size system comprising 22 μm polyhedral α-alumina oxide (Al2O3-22), 3.0 μm aluminum nitride (AlN-3), and 0.35 μm polyhedral α-alumina oxide (Al2O3-03). A distinctly high thermal conductivity (4.27 W/(m·K) and lower viscosity (35.28 Pa·s) were acquired using the ternary filler comprising 61.00 wt% Al2O3-22, 10.76 wt% AlN-3, and 6.24 wt% Al2O3-03. Meanwhile, the epoxy composites exhibited excellent thermo-mechanical properties, thermal stability, and dielectric performance. This work presents an easy and cost-effective approach for preparing highly thermally conductive and low-dielectric-performance polymer-based composites that can be widely used for the thermal management of electronic devices in the 5G era.