Vitrimeric silicone composite with high thermal conductivity and high repairing efficiency as thermal interface materials

Thermally conductive composites with self-healing ability can not only solve the heat dissipation problem of integrated electronic devices but also help improve their service life, thereby reducing electronic waste. In this study, a self-repairing thermally conductive composite with good electrical insulation, high thermal conductivity, high healing efficiency, and excellent mechanical strength was designed and prepared using a silicon vitrimer as the matrix and functionalized boron nitride nanosheets (fBNNS) as the thermally conductive filler. The tensile strength of the vitrimers with 10 wt% of octaglycidyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) increased by 2.82 times to 8.4 +/- 0.1 MPa with respect to that without POSS. In addition, the composites exhibited excellent thermal conductivity of 1.41 +/- 0.05 W/mK with 66 wt% of fBNNS, which is more than 6 times higher than that of undoped elastomers. More importantly, the repair efficiency of undoped vitrimeric silicone can be as high as 98.8 +/- 1.1%, which was slightly reduced to over 92.0% by adding 66 wt% of fBNNS. Further, it could recover 99.3% of the thermal conductivity even after 6 healing cycles. The self-healing thermally conductive composites exhibited excellent wettability and good adhesion to different wafers and substrates, demonstrating excellent performance as thermal interface materials for high-power electronic devices.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, a self-repairing thermally conductive composite with good electrical insulation, high thermal conductivity, high healing efficiency, and excellent mechanical strength was designed and prepared. It can solve the heat dissipation problem of integrated electronic devices and extend their service life, reducing electronic waste.