Effect of surface functionalized SiO2 particles filled polyolefin on the dielectric properties of laminates

Heterostructured Graphene@Silica@Iron Phenylphosphinate for Fire-Retardant, Strong, Thermally Conductive Yet Electrically Insulated Epoxy Nanocomposites

The portfolio of extraordinary fire retardancy, mechanical properties, dielectric/electric insulating performances, and thermal conductivity (λ) is essential for the practical applications of epoxy resin (EP) in high-end industries. To date, it remains a great challenge to achieve such a performanceportfolio in EP due to their different and even mutually exclusive governing mechanisms. Herein, a multifunctional additive (G@SiO2@FeHP) is fabricated by in situ immobilization of silica (SiO2) and iron phenylphosphinate (FeHP) onto the graphene (G) surface. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of G, SiO2 and FeHP, the addition of 1.0 wt% G@SiO2@FeHP enables EP to achieve a vertical burning (UL-94) V-0 rating and a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 30.5%. Besides, both heat release and smoke generation of as-prepared EP nanocomposite are significantly suppressed due to the condensed-phase function of G@SiO2@FeHP. Adding 1.0 wt% G@SiO2@FeHP also brings about 44.5%, 61.1%, and 42.3% enhancements in the tensile strength, tensile modulus, and impact strength of EP nanocomposite. Moreover, the EP nanocomposite exhibits well-preserved dielectric and electric insulating properties and significantly enhanced λ. This work provides an integrated strategy for the development of multifunctional EP materials, thus facilitating their high-performance applications.

Microstructural and Radioactive Shielding Analyses of Alumix-231 and Alumix-231 Reinforced with B4C/SiC/Al2O3 Particles Produced through Hot Pressing

Al2O3, SiC, and B4C (10%) particle-reinforced Alumix-231 matrix composites and nonreinforced Alumix-231 blocks were produced by pressing under uniaxial pressure using the powder metallurgy method. The Archimedes density of the produced samples was analyzed using microstructures (SEM and EDS), powder size analysis, and theoretical (PSD software) and experimental methods (Co-60 and Cs-137 radiation sources). As a result of the theoretical and experimental calculations, the Alumix-231 + 10% B4C composite material showed the lowest shielding feature against γ radiation, while the Alumix-231 + 10% Al2O3 composite material showed the highest shielding feature.

Hydrocarbon Resin-Based Composites with Low Thermal Expansion Coefficient and Dielectric Loss for High-Frequency Copper Clad Laminates

The rapid development of the 5G communication technology requires the improvement of the thermal stability and dielectric performance of high-frequency copper clad laminates (CCL). A cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) resin was added to the original 1,2-polybutadienes (PB)/styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS) binary resin system to construct a PB/SEBS/COC ternary polyolefin system with optimized dielectric properties, mechanical properties, and water absorption. Glass fiber cloths (GFCs) and SiO₂ were used to fill the resin matrix so to reduce the thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) and enhance the mechanical strength of the composites. It was found that the CTE of polyolefin/GFCs/SiO₂ composite laminates decreased with the increase of SiO₂ loading at first, which was attributed to the strong interfacial interaction restricting the segmental motion of polymer chains between filler and matrix. It was obvious that the addition of COC and SiO₂ had an effect on the porosity, as shown in the SEM graph, which influenced the dielectric loss (D_f) of the composites directly. When the weight of SiO₂ accounted for 40% of the total mass of the composites, the laminates exhibited the best comprehensive performance. Their CTE and D_f were reduced by 63.3% and 22.0%, respectively, and their bending strength increased by 2136.1% compared with that of the substrates without COC and SiO₂. These substrates have a great application prospect in the field of hydrocarbon resin-based CCL.