Thermally conductive and electrically insulated DGEBA-epoxy nano-composite fabricated by integrating GO/h-BN and rGO/h-BN hybrid for thermal management applications: a comparative analysis

Abstract Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are prerequisite components of micro- and nano-electronics, as well as advanced semiconductor applications. A bisphenol-A epoxy-based thermal adhesive amalgamated graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and modified hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN/mh-BN) are fabricated. The advantages of adhesive TIMs compared to other TIMs encompass lower cost, process savings, reduced component weight, and prevention of vibration loosening the high-end electronics. Additionally, some parts are not suitable for soldering, as they may lack “legs” that go through holes in the PCBs, and adhesive TIMs help prevent short circuits. The thermal conductivity (TC) is measured at 1.653 ± 0.057 W/mK when incorporating 44.5 wt% mh-BN hybrid rGO into the epoxy matrix. However, substituting rGO with GO reduced the TC to 0.81 ± 0.0289 W/mK due to the lower phonon transfer of GO compared to rGO. The binding strength, in terms of lap shear, of the utmost TC composite adhesive was within the range of 6.26 ± 0.48 MPa, which is acceptable for effective end applications. The thermal stability of both optimized composites (mh-BN/rGO and mh-BN/GO) has demonstrated better results beyond 280 °C. The highest TC epoxy nanocomposite, termed mh-BN/rGO4/epoxy, also revealed electrical insulation properties.