The Investigation of the Effect of Filler Sizes in 3D-BN Skeletons on Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy-Based Composites

Fillers and methods to improve the effective (out-plane) thermal conductivity of polymeric thermal interface materials - A review

The internet of things and growing demand for smaller and more advanced devices has created the problem of high heat production in electronic equipment, which greatly reduces the work performance and life of the electronic instruments. Thermal interface material (TIM) is placed in between heat generating micro-chip and the heat dissipater to conduct all the produced heat to the heat sink. The development of suitable TIM with excellent thermal conductivity (TC) in both in-plane and through-plane directions is a very important need at present. For efficient thermal management, polymer composites are potential candidates. But in general, their thermal conductivity is low compared to that of metals. The filler integration into the polymer matrix is one of the two approaches used to increase the thermal conductivity of polymer composites and is also easy to scale up for industrial production. Another way to achieve this is to change the structure of polymer chains, which fall out of the scope of this work. In this review, considering the first approach, the authors have summarized recent developments in many types of fillers with different scenarios by providing multiple cases with successful strategies to improve through-plane thermal conductivity (TPTC) (k⊥). For a better understanding of TC, a comprehensive background is presented. Several methods to improve the effective (out-plane) thermal conductivity of polymer composites and different theoretical models for the calculation of TC are also discussed. In the end, it is given a detailed conclusion that provides drawbacks of some fillers, multiple significant routes recommended by other researchers to build thermally conductive polymer composites, future aspects along with direction so that the researchers can get a guideline to design an effective polymer-based thermal interface material.

Enhanced Thermal Conductivity and Dielectric Properties of Epoxy Composites with Fluorinated Graphene Nanofillers

The demand for high-performance dielectrics has increased due to the rapid development of modern electric power and electronic technology. Composite dielectrics, which can overcome the limitations of traditional single polymers in thermal conductivity, dielectric properties and mechanical performance, have received considerable attention. In this study, we report a multifunctional nanocomposite material fabricated by blending fluorinated graphene (F-graphene) with epoxy resin. The F-graphene/epoxy composite exhibited a high thermal conductivity of 0.3304 W·m-1·K-1 at a low filler loading of 1.0 wt.%, which was 67.63% higher than that of pure epoxy. The composite dielectric also showed high breakdown strength (78.60 kV/mm), high dielectric constant (8.23), low dielectric loss (<0.015) and low AC conductivity (<10-11 S·m-1). Moreover, the composite demonstrated high thermal stability and strong mechanical strength. It is believed that the F-graphene/epoxy composite has outstanding performance in various aspects and can enable the development and manufacturing of advanced electric power and electronic equipment devices.

Improved Photoluminescence Performance of Eu3+-Doped Y2(MoO4)3 Red-Emitting Phosphor via Orderly Arrangement of the Crystal Lattice

In this study, we developed a technology for broadening the 465 nm and 535 nm excitation peaks of Eu³⁺:Y₂(MoO₄)₃ via crystal lattice orderly arrangement. This was achieved by powder particle aggregation and diffusion at a high temperature to form a ceramic structure. The powdered Eu³⁺:Y₂(MoO₄)₃ was synthesized using the combination of a sol-gel process and the high-temperature solid-state reaction method, and it then became ceramic via a sintering process. Compared with the Eu³⁺:Y₂(MoO₄)₃ powder, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the excitation peak of the ceramic was broadened by two- to three-fold. In addition, the absorption efficiency of the ceramic was increased from 15% to 70%, while the internal quantum efficiency reduced slightly from 95% to 90%, and the external quantum efficiency was enhanced from 20% to 61%. More interestingly, the Eu³⁺:Y₂(MoO₄)₃ ceramic material showed little thermal quenching below a temperature of 473 K, making it useful for high-lumen output operating at a high temperature.

Investigation on the Controllable Synthesis of Colorized and Magnetic Polystyrene Beads With Millimeter Size via In Situ Suspension Polymerization

A series of colorized and magnetic polystyrene/Fe₃O₄ (PS/Fe₃O₄) composite beads with millimeter size are successfully synthesized by introducing hydrophobic Fe₃O₄via in situ suspension polymerization of styrene for the first time. Effects of the hydrophobic Fe₃O₄ content, stirring speed, and surfactant dosage on the macromorphology and particle size of PS/Fe₃O₄ beads are systematically investigated to realize the controllable synthesis. Moreover, three kinds of hydrophobic pigments are also employed to synthesize colorized polystyrene, which demonstrates the versatility, simplicity, and wide applicability of the proposed method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and element mapping (EM) images demonstrated that the hydrophobic Fe₃O₄ is well dispersed in the polystyrene matrix. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the resultant PS/Fe₃O₄ beads possess a better thermal stability than neat PS. PS/Fe₃O₄ beads have a promising application in the fields of colorized extruded PS board, colorized expanded PS foam particle, and board.

Fragment-Resistant Property Optimization within Ballistic Inserts Obtained on the Basis of Para-Aramid Materials

A high protection level without an excessive weight is a basic assumption in the design of modern armors and protection systems. Optimizing armors is a task of development of the utmost importance, and is the subject of the work contained within this article. Optimization of ballistic inserts was carried out using multicriterial analysis (MCA), which enables the selection of the optimal composition, taking into account properties such as ballistic resistance, physicomechanical, and/or functional properties. For this purpose, various types of composite systems were produced and tested in terms of their fragment-resistant properties according to STANAG 2920 and the composite areal density of different ballistic inserts: Soft inserts made of Twaron® para-aramid sheets, hard ballistic inserts made of multilayer hot-pressed preimpregnated sheets, and hybrid hard ballistic inserts prepared on the basis of multilayer hot-pressed preimpregnated sheets and ceramics. The application of MCA and performance of experimental fragment resistance tests for a wide spectrum of para-aramid inserts are part of the novelty of this work. The obtained test results showed that depending on the composition of the composite system, we could obtain a wide range of fragmentation resistance in the range of 300 to >1800 m/s, which depended on the areal density and type of composite system used. The results also confirmed that MCA is a good computational tool to select the optimal design of para-aramid ballistic inserts.

Study of Relaxations in Epoxy/Rubber Composites by Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Current and Dielectric Spectroscopy

Liquid rubber toughened epoxy resins are widely used in electrical equipment and electronic packaging. Previous studies have only investigated the relaxation process of epoxy resins through dielectric spectroscopy. The trap characteristics of the relaxation process by thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) analysis are less studied. In this work, TSDC and broadband dielectric spectroscopy techniques were used to complementarily characterize the dielectric relaxation process of hydroxyl-terminated liquid nitrile-butadiene rubber (HTBN) toughened epoxy resin polymers. The experimental results show that HTBN introduces two new relaxation processes in the epoxy matrix, which are attributed to the α polarization of the rubber molecule and the interfacial polarization based on the correlation between the TSDC and the dielectric spectroscopy data, respectively. The trap parameters of each TSDC current peak were obtained using the multi-peak fitting method. The addition of rubber increases the trap density in epoxy composites significantly, especially for traps with energy levels in the range of 0.5–0.9 eV. The trap energy level of the DC conductivity process increases with increasing rubber concentration. The above results provide analytical ideas for rubber-toughened epoxy resins’ polarization and trap characteristics and theoretical guidance for formulation improvement.