Increasing the thermal conductivity of boron nitride and aluminum nitride particle epoxy-matrix composites by particle surface treatments

The thermal conductivity of boron nitride and aluminum nitride particle epoxy-matrix composites was increased by up to 97% by surface treatment of the particles prior to composite fabrication. The increase in thermal conductivity is due to decrease in the filler-matrix thermal contact resistance through the improvement of the interface between matrix and particles. Effective treatments for BN involved acetone, acids (nitric and sulfuric) and silane. The most effective treatment involved silane such that the coating resulted from the treatment amounted to 2.4% of the weight of the treated BN. The effectiveness of a treatment was higher for a larger BN volume fraction. At 57 vol.% BN, the thermal conductivity reached 10.3 W/m·K. The treatments had little effect on the specific surface area of the BN particles. Silane treatments were also effective for AlN. At 60 vol.% AlN, the thermal conductivity reached 11.0 W/m·K.