New epoxy composites with enhanced thermal conductivity keeping electrical insulation

Identifier:  TDX:2972

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2972

Authors:  Isarn Garcia, Isaac

Abstract:
The tendency in electronics to produce smaller and lighter devices with higher power output causes an increase of the generated heat (Joule effect) by the increase in the frequency of electrons. Evolve this exceeding heat cause the need to improve some properties that existent materials do not meet, since keeping the working temperature of these devices is directly related to efficiency, useful lifetime and prevention of premature equipment failures. Some elements of these devices are coated by epoxy resins and this is the reason why enhance the thermal conductivity of them, insulators by nature, is of great importance in several industries such as electronics and electrical. The most economic and simple technique to face this issue is still today through the addition of high thermal conductive fillers. In this doctoral thesis, boron nitride (BN), alumina (Al2O3), aluminum nitride (AlN), silicon carbide (SiC), expanded graphite (EG) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been used. Experimentally, the influence of each filler has been determined in the final composites, especially in the thermal, mechanic and electric characteristics. The materials with the best performances in the proposed objectives were those of homopolymerized cycloaliphatic epoxy resin with the combined addition of 70 wt. % of BN platelets and 2.5 and 5 wt. % of EG. The values of thermal conductivity improved by more than 1600 % in reference to the neat epoxy and were 2.08 and 2.22 W/m·K, respectively. These materials also kept enough electrical insulation, in the range of 10^10 and 10^6 Ω·m, respectively.