Thermal and electrical conductivity control in hybrid composites with graphene and boron nitride fillers

Abstract

We report on the thermal and electrical properties of hybrid epoxy composites with graphene and boron nitride fillers. The thicknesses, lateral dimensions, and aspect ratios of each filler material were intentionally selected for geometric similarity to one another, in contrast to prior studies that utilized dissimilar filler geometries to achieve a ‘synergistic’ effect. We demonstrate that the electrically-conductive graphene and electrically-insulating boron nitride fillers allow one to effectively engineer the thermal and electrical conductivities of their resulting composites. By varying the constituent fraction of boron nitride to graphene in a composite with ∼44% total filler loading, one can tune the thermal conductivity enhancement from a factor of ×15 to ×35 and increase the electrical conductivity by many orders of magnitude. The obtained results are important for the development of next-generation thermal interface materials with controllable electrical properties necessary for applications requiring either electrical grounding or insulation.