Physical, mechanical, thermal, and dielectric behavior of surface modified hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in epoxy matrix was investigated in this paper. Effective treatment of microsize boron nitride involved silane coupling agent, (γ‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane such that the coating resulted from the treatment amounted to 2% of the weight of silane coupling agent of the treated BN. The present work revealed that the chemical treatment of BN surface could effectively enhance the adhesion between matrix and filler material. The dispersion and wettability of the BN powder in epoxy matrix after surface treatment were improved. These imparted improved physical and excellent mechanical and thermal properties to the developed material. The experimental study on thermal properties of fabricated composites indicated that incorporation of modified particles exhibits improved glass transition temperature. As filler loading increases, coefficient of thermal expansion of composite decreases which further decreases when treated filler were used. Further, appreciable improvement in thermal conductivity is obtained when treated hBN is used in place of untreated one. The dielectric properties are investigated for wide frequency range and filler content and found to be increased with hBN content and decrease with frequency enhancement. Furthermore, mechanical properties of such composites were also largely enhanced when treated fillers were used. With modified properties, the presently developed material is suitable for microelectronic applications.

No abstract

Hybrid composite i.e. surface modified hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and short sisal fiber reinforced in epoxy matrix is fabricated using hand lay-up method. The effect of surface modified hBN filler and sisal fiber content on mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy based hybrid composites were investigated in this paper. The main aim of the investigation is to develop a material which can found its application in microelectronic components. As per the requirement of microelectronic industry, the material should possess high thermal conductivity. Hence, thermal conductivity of epoxy increases with increase in hexagonal boron nitride content. Inspite of insulative nature of sisal fiber, the study shows that its inclusion in combination with hBN enhances the thermal conductivity if the content of both the fillers were properly selected. Other thermal property like coefficient of thermal expansion and glass transition temperature appreciably improves when combination of fillers were added in epoxy matrix. Mechanical properties under study i.e. tensile strength and compressive strength also enhances when combination of sisal fiber and hBN were incorporated as compared to when single filler hBN were used. Hence, usage of hybrid filler as reinforcement in epoxy improve overall mechanical and thermal property of the developed material.