The demands for effective thermally conductive dielectric
composite
materials continue to increase due to high speed and low-loss signal
propagation required in microwave frequency applications. Composites
of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and boron nitride are promising
for these applications. Here, for the first time, recent generation
surface-engineered boron nitride nanobarbs (BNNB) material was evaluated
at a low filler content in PTFE to achieve the desirable high thermal
conductivity and low dielectric loss requirements which are typically
difficult without a strong filler–matrix interaction and high
filler loading. Composites of modified BNNB and modified PTFE were
also fabricated and evaluated. These composites exhibited higher thermal
conductivity (1.2–1.3 W/mK) with a lower concentration of boron
nitride nanoparticles than those reported in the literature. The data
were analyzed by theoretical models and interfacial thermal resistance
was the lowest for the composite made from the modified PTFE and modified
BNNB. Additionally, the composites displayed excellent dielectric
properties including a dielectric constant ≈2.3 and loss tangent
of less than 0.005 at frequencies of 1–3 GHz. These results
indicate that such thermally conductive and low-loss dielectric composites
have significant potential as materials for thermal management and
dielectric components in microelectronics, 5G, and microwave devices.