Constructing a filler network for thermal conductivity enhancement in epoxy composites via reaction-induced phase separation

Y Zhang, YC Shen, K Shi, TW Wang, Eileen Harkin-Jones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)
238 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol-A (DGEBA)/methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride/polyethersulphone (PES) blends are prepared as matrix resins for thermally conductive composites using graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) as the conductive component. The epoxy/PES blends form a network structure via reaction-induced phase separation (RIPS) during the curing process, and the GNPs are selectively localized in the PES phase and at the interface leading to a three-dimensional continuous filler network. With this unique structure, the thermal conductivity of the epoxy/PES/10 wt% GNPs composite is increased to 0.709 W m-1 K-1, which is nearly 3.5 times that of the pure epoxy or a 52% increase compared to the epoxy/GNP composite without PES. In addition, it is found that the impact strength of the composite relative to the unfilled
material is also improved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)62-69
Number of pages8
JournalComposites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Volume110
Early online date12 Apr 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Jul 2018

Keywords

  • Cure
  • Thermal properties
  • Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs)

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