Thermally Conductive Polydimethylsiloxane-Based Composite with Vertically Aligned Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Abstract

The considerable heat generated in electronic devices, resulting from their high-power consumption and dense component integration, underscores the importance of developing effective thermal interface materials. While composite materials are ideal for this application, the random distribution of filling materials leads to numerous interfaces, limiting improvements in thermal transfer capabilities. An effective method to improve the thermal conductivity of composites is the alignment of anisotropic fillers, such as hexagonal boron nitride (BN). In this study, the repeat blade coating method was employed to horizontally align BN within a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix, followed by flipping and cutting to prepare BN/PDMS composites with vertically aligned BN (V-BP). The V-BP composite with 30 wt.% BN exhibited an enhanced out-of-plane thermal conductivity of up to 1.24 W/mK. Compared to the PDMS, the V-BP composite exhibited outstanding heat dissipation capacities. In addition, its low density and exceptional electrical insulation properties showcase its potential for being used in electronic devices. The impact of coating velocity on the performance of the composites was further studied through computational fluid dynamics simulation. The results showed that increasing the coating velocity enhanced the out-of-plane thermal conductivity of the V-BP composite by approximately 40% compared to those prepared at slower coating velocities. This study provides a promising approach for producing thermal interface materials on a large scale to effectively dissipate the accumulated heat in densely integrated electronic devices.