An experimental investigation of epoxy-based hybrid composites with hexagonal boron nitride and short sisal fiber as reinforcement for high performance microelectronic applications

Abstract

In the present article, an investigation is presented on epoxy-based composites where the discontinuous phases are microsized boron nitride and sisal fiber (SF). Both the reinforcing materials are surface modified before incorporating them into the epoxy matrix. Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) surface is treated by silane-coupling agent, whereas the aqueous NaOH solution is used to modify the surface of SF. The effect of fillers on the physical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric properties of hybrid composites is studied through experimentation. The result shows that the inclusion of hBN increases the thermal conductivity of epoxy appreciably and dielectric constant marginally, while the inclusion of SF reduces the thermal conductivity marginally and dielectric constant appreciably. The maximum thermal conductivity of 1.88 W/m-K is obtained for the combination of 30 wt% hBN and 3 wt% SF. For the same combination, the dielectric constant is 4.57 at 1 GHz, which is almost similar to neat epoxy. Also, other properties like compressive strength, hardness, glass-transition temperature, and coefficient of thermal expansion improve when combinations of ceramic filler and natural fiber were incorporated in the epoxy matrix. Due to outstanding comprehensive properties, epoxy/hBN/SF composites found potential application in wide microelectronic applications. © 2021 Society of Plastics Engineers.