Al2O3/h-BN/epoxy based electronic packaging material with high thermal conductivity and flame retardancy

The long-term and stable operation of integrated circuits and microelectronics requires packaging epoxy resin (EP) exhibit high thermal conductivity for efficient heat dissipation, and excellent flame retardancy in case of thermal runaway. We achieved such EP composite via filling poly-dopamine (PDA) modified nanoscale Al2O3 spheres and microscale h-BN sheets. The PDA modification increases the compatibility between fillers and EP and largely reduces the viscosity, improving the dispersion of fillers in EP thus the thermal conductivity of EP composites. In addition, NH3, H2O, and N-2 generated during the combustion of phenolic hydroxyls and aminos in PDA combined with the physical barrier effect of Al2O3 and h-BN can improve the flame retardancy of EP composites. As a consequence, the EP composite filled with PDA modified Al2O3 (26.67 wt%) and h-BN (13.33 wt%) (i.e., PDA-BNAO/EP) shows a thermal conductivity of 1.192 W/mK (654.9% of EP), a peak heat release rate of 194.9 W/g (33.8% of EP), and total heat release of 15.2 kJ/g (54.5% of EP), respectively. What's more, the viscosity of PDA-BNAO/EP is 20,443 mPa s, which is only 20% of BNAO/EP (whose viscosity is 102,281 mPa s). More importantly, the PDA-BNAO/EP has good dynamic mechanical properties with the storage modulus of 14.69 Gpa, glass transition temperature of 91.9 degrees C and good electrical insulation, which is desired for packaging of microelectronics. PDA-BNAO/EP composite should be a promising candidate for widespread packaging materials of microelectronics.

Automated summary

This article introduces a method to prepare high thermal conductivity and flame retardant epoxy resin composites by filling poly-dopamine modified nanoscale Al2O3 spheres and microscale h-BN sheets. The EP composite exhibits good thermal conductivity, flame retardancy, and dynamic mechanical properties, making it a promising candidate for packaging materials in microelectronics.