Ice-templated graphene in-situ loaded boron nitride aerogels for polymer nanocomposites with high thermal management capability

Efficient heat dissipation is essential for further improving the integration of high-power electronic packaging equipment. Through-plane direction aligned three-dimensional boron nitride nanosheets/graphene(3D-BNNS/ Gr) aerogels are designed as heat transferring skeletons for epoxy nanocomposites. Graphene was in-situ synthesized on BNNS by a combustion synthesis method to ensure good contact, and subsequent aligning of BNNS/ Gr nanofillers by a self-assembly ice-templating strategy to reduce contact resistance between individual BNNS. At a relatively low 3D-BNNS/Gr loading of 11.2 vol%, the composites exhibit superior through-plane thermal conductivities of 2.23 and 1.09 W m(-1) K-1, demonstrating a 1073% and 1069% thermal conductivity enhancement at room temperature (RT) and liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) compared with pure epoxy resin. Meanwhile, the mechanical properties of the composites at RT and 77 K were synchronously enhanced. Furthermore, the 3D-BNNS/Gr-epoxy nanocomposite film then acts as a heat spreader for heat dissipation of high-power LED modules and exhibits superior cooling efficiency.

Automated summary

Efficient heat dissipation is crucial for high-power electronic packaging equipment. In this study, three-dimensional boron nitride nanosheets/graphene aerogels were used as heat transferring skeletons for epoxy nanocomposites. The resulting composites showed significantly enhanced thermal conductivity and mechanical properties and demonstrated superior cooling efficiency when used as heat spreaders for high-power LED modules.