Thermal conductivity of silicone rubber filled with ZnO

Thermal conductivities of silicone rubber filled with ZnO in a wide volume range were measured in order to study the effect of formed conductive particle chains on thermal conductivities. With the increasing of content of ZnO particles in silicone rubber, the amount of formed conductive chains increases and the conductive chains tend linearly to increase the thermal conductivity of the composite. The experimental results obtained were also analyzed using the Nielsen and Agari models to explain the effect of ZnO filler on the formation of thermal conductive networks. Thermal conductivities of a polymer filled with high volume content of particles evidently increased with the adding of small size fillers. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that percolation threshold has been reached at 31.4 vol% ZnO filler loading, and the hybrid fillers are more densely packed than single fillers in the silicone rubber matrix. There occurs a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) phenomenon in thermal resistance in composites of silicone rubber filled with ZnO.