Influence of particulate surface treatment on physical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric behavior of epoxy/hexagonal boron nitride composites

Abstract

Physical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric behavior of surface modified hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in epoxy matrix was investigated in this paper. Effective treatment of microsize boron nitride involved silane coupling agent, (?-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane such that the coating resulted from the treatment amounted to 2% of the weight of silane coupling agent of the treated BN. The present work revealed that the chemical treatment of BN surface could effectively enhance the adhesion between matrix and filler material. The dispersion and wettability of the BN powder in epoxy matrix after surface treatment were improved. These imparted improved physical and excellent mechanical and thermal properties to the developed material. The experimental study on thermal properties of fabricated composites indicated that incorporation of modified particles exhibits improved glass transition temperature. As filler loading increases, coefficient of thermal expansion of composite decreases which further decreases when treated filler were used. Further, appreciable improvement in thermal conductivity is obtained when treated hBN is used in place of untreated one. The dielectric properties are investigated for wide frequency range and filler content and found to be increased with hBN content and decrease with frequency enhancement. Furthermore, mechanical properties of such composites were also largely enhanced when treated fillers were used. With modified properties, the presently developed material is suitable for microelectronic applications. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers