Epoxy composite films filled with sintered multifaceted boron nitride for thermal and dielectric applications

Abstract

The miniaturization of electronic devices has led to an increase in power density and functional integration, resulting in rapid heat accumulation that adversely affects operational stability and service life. Dielectric composite films with excellent thermal conductivity and insulating properties are highly desired for addressing thermal management issues in electronic packaging applications. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising filler for such composites due to its outstanding thermal conductivity, insulating properties, and chemical stability. However, the inherent platelike structure of h-BN causes significant anisotropy and poor miscibility with polymers, limiting the uniform conduction of heat. This study proposes a high-temperature sintering method that transforms flaky h-BN plates into irregular multifaceted particles. This transformation reduces thermal anisotropy and creates uniform heat conduction pathways. The resulting sintered BN/Epoxy (s-BN/EP) composite films exhibit exceptional thermal conductivity, with in-plane thermal conductivity increased by 36 % to 6.0 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ and through-plane thermal conductivity increased by 39 % to 1.2 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ compared to pristine h-BN/epoxy composites. Moreover, s-BN/EP films could maintain low dielectric constant (D_k, 3.22) and dielectric loss (D_f, 0.015) at 5 GHz. This innovative approach provides a significant advancement in the development of high-performance insulating polymer composites, offering a promising solution for thermal management in high-power-density electronic packaging.