A Concurrent Enhancement of Both In-Plane and Through-Plane Thermal Conductivity of Injection Molded Polycarbonate/Boron Nitride/Alumina Composites by Constructing a Dense Filler Packing Structure

In this work, a facile strategy is proposed to concurrently enhance both in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivity of injection molded polycarbonate (PC)-based composites by constructing a dense filler packing structure with planar boron nitride (BN) and spherical alumina (Al₂O₃) particles. The state of orientation of BN platelets is altered with the presence of Al₂O₃, which is favorable for improving both in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivity of subsequent moldings. Rheological analysis showed that the formation of intact thermal conductive pathways is crucial to the overall enhancement of thermal conductivity. Both in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivity of PC/BN(20 wt%)/Al₂O₃(40 wt%) composites reached as high as 1.52 and 1.09 W mK⁻¹, which are 485% and 474% higher than that of pure PC counterparts, respectively. Furthermore, the prepared samples demonstrated excellent electrical insulation and dielectric properties which show potential application in electronic and automotive industries.     

Highly electrically and thermally conductive silicon carbide-graphene composites with yttria and scandia additives

Dense silicon carbide/graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and silicon carbide/graphene oxide (GO) composites with 1 vol.% equimolar Y₂O₃–Sc₂O₃ sintering additives were sintered at 2000 °C in nitrogen atmosphere by rapid hot-pressing technique. The sintered composites were further annealed in gas pressure sintering (GPS) furnace at 1800 °C for 6 h in overpressure of nitrogen (3 MPa). The effects of types and amount of graphene, orientation of graphene sheets, as well as the influence of annealing on microstructure and functional properties of prepared composites were investigated. SiC-graphene composite materials exhibit anisotropic electrical as well as thermal conductivity due to the alignment of graphene platelets as a consequence of applied high uniaxial pressure (50 MPa) during sintering. The electrical conductivity of annealed sample with 10 wt.% of GNPs oriented parallel to the measuring direction increased significantly up to 118 S·cm⁻¹. Similarly, the thermal conductivity of composites was very sensitive to the orientation of GNPs. In direction perpendicular to the GNPs the thermal conductivity decreased with increasing amount of graphene from 180 W·m⁻¹ K⁻¹ to 70 W·m⁻¹ K⁻¹, mainly due to the scattering of phonons on the graphene – SiC interface. In parallel direction to GNPs the thermal conductivity varied from 130 W·m⁻¹ K⁻¹ up to 238 W·m⁻¹ K⁻¹ for composites with 1 wt.% of GO and 5 wt.% of GNPs after annealing. In this case both the microstructure and composition of SiC matrix and the good thermal conductivity of GNPs improved the thermal conductivity of composites.     

Synthesis of a novel biphenyl epoxy resin and its hybrid composite with high thermal conductivity

A novel biphenyl epoxy monomer of p-methyl phenylhydroquinone epoxy resin (p-MEP) was synthesized and characterized. We researched its potential in the area of thermal conduction application and prepared a series of hybrid composites based on it with different mass ratios of sphere Al₂O₃ filler. From the good mobility and low viscosity of p-MEP, it allowed mixing with more Al₂O₃ fillers. The hybrid epoxy resins owned the advantages of traditional epoxy resins as well as quite considerable thermal conductivity. Therefore, the hybrid composite at the maximum mass fraction of 70% possess the highest thermal conductivity of 5.6 W mK⁻¹, which is 5.6 times higher than that of pristine p-MEP (0.1 W mK⁻¹). © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47078.     

Process induced alignment of carbon nanotube decreases longitudinal thermal conductivity of Al2O3 based porous composites

Alumina (Al₂O₃) based porous composites, reinforced with zirconia (ZrO₂), 3 and 8 mol% Y₂O₃ stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ) and 4 wt% carbon nanotube (CNT) are processed via spark plasma sintering. The normalized linear shrinkage during sintering process of Al₂O₃-based composite shows minimum value (19.2–20.4%) for CNT reinforced composites at the temperature between 1650 °C and 575 °C. Further, the combined effect of porosity, phase-content and its crystallite size in sintered Al₂O₃-based porous composite have elicited lowest thermal conductivity of 1.2 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹ (Al₂O₃-8YSZ composite) at 900 °C. Despite high thermal conductivity of CNT (∼3000 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹), only a marginal thermal conductivity increase (∼1.4 times) to 7.3–13.4 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹ was observed for CNT reinforced composite along the longitudinal direction at 25 °C. The conventional models overestimated the thermal conductivity of CNT reinforced composites by up to ∼6.7 times, which include the crystallite size, porosity, and interfacial thermal resistance of Al₂O₃, YSZ and, CNT. But, incorporation of a new process induced CNT-alignment factor, the estimated thermal conductivity (of <6.6 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹) closely matched with the experimental values. Moreover, the high thermal conductivity (<76.1 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹) of the CNT reinforced porous composites along transverse direction confirms the process induced alignment of CNT in the spark plasma sintered composites.     

Fabrication of Al2O3/AlN composite ceramics with enhanced performance via a heterogeneous precipitation coating process

To improve the thermal and mechanical properties of Al₂O₃/AlN composite ceramics, a novel heterogeneous precipitation coating (HPC) approach was introduced into the fabrication of Al₂O₃/AlN ceramics. For this approach, Al₂O₃ and AlN powders were coated with a layer of amorphous Y₂O₃, with the coated Al₂O₃ and AlN powders found to favor the formation of an interconnected YAG second phase along the grain boundaries. The interconnected YAG phase was designed to act as a diffusion barrier layer to minimize the detrimental interdiffusion between Al₂O₃ and AlN particles. Compared with samples prepared by a conventional ball-milling method, the HPC Al₂O₃/AlN composites exhibited less AlON formation, a higher relative density, a smaller grain size and a more homogeneous microstructure. The thermal conductivity, bending strength, fracture toughness and Weibull modulus of the HPC Al₂O₃/AlN composite ceramics were found to reach 34.21 ± 0.34 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, 475.61 ± 21.56 MPa, 5.53 ± 0.29 MPa m^1/2 and 25.61, respectively, which are much higher than those for the Al₂O₃ and Al₂O₃/AlN samples prepared by the conventional ball-milling method. These results suggest that HPC is a more effective technique for preparing Al₂O₃/AlN composites with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties, and is probably applicable to other composite material systems as well.     

Preparation and thermophysical properties of LaMgAl11O19–Yb3Al5O12 ceramic composites

LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉–Yb₃Al₅O₁₂ ceramic composites were prepared by pressureless sintering process at 1700 °C for 10 h in air. The microstructure and thermophysical properties of the composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-temperature dilatometer and laser flash diffusivity measurements. LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉–Yb₃Al₅O₁₂ ceramic composites are composed of magnetoplumbite and garnet structures. LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉–Yb₃Al₅O₁₂ ceramic composites exhibit typical linear increase in thermal expansion with the increase of temperature. The measured thermal diffusivity gradually decreases with increasing temperature. Thermal conductivity of LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉–Yb₃Al₅O₁₂ ceramic composites is in the range of 2.6–3.9 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹ from room temperature to 1200 °C.     

Mechanical performance and microstructure of 3Y-TZP/Al2O3/GNPs medical ceramic surgical scalpel material prepared through SPS–HF dual sintering method

In this study, 3 mol% yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP)/Al₂O₃/graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) medical ceramic materials for manufacturing surgical scalpels were sintered in vacuum in an SPS–625HF furnace. The mechanical performances and microstructures of the composites were investigated, and the influence mechanisms of the sintering temperature and amount of added GNPs were studied. During the sintering process at 1400°C and 30 MPa for 5 min, the added GNPs enhanced the mechanical properties of the 3Y-TZP/Al₂O₃ composites. The results showed that the composite with .1 wt.% GNPs had 6.4% (910 ± 11 MPa) higher flexural strength than 3Y-TZP/Al₂O₃. The composite with .4 wt.% GNPs had 38.7% (12.95 ± .22 MPa m^1/2) greater fracture toughness than 3Y-TZP/Al₂O₃. The main toughening mechanisms of 3Y-TZP/Al₂O₃/GNPs were crack bridging, crack deflection, crack branching, GNPs bridging, transgranular fracture structures, and phase transformation of t-ZrO_1.95. The two-stage densification displacement curve appeared at the optimal sintering temperature of the materials, and the 3Y-TZP/Al₂O₃/GNPs composites with a two-stage densification displacement curve had excellent mechanical properties. The added GNPs can inhibit the grain growth during the sintering process, thereby refining the zirconia grains. With the increase in GNPs content, the grain size and flexural strength of the composites decreased gradually. However, higher content of GNPs was beneficial to improve the relative density and thermal diffusivity of 3Y-TZP/Al₂O₃/GNPs composite material.     

Synergistic enhancement of thermal conductivity by addition of graphene nanoplatelets to three-dimensional boron nitride scaffolds for polyamide 6 composites

Three-dimensional boron nitride/graphene nanoplatelets (3D-BN-GNP) scaffolds were fabricated using an ice-templating method and polyamide 6 (PA6)-based composites were prepared by vacuum impregnation of caprolactam monomers into the scaffolds, followed by polymerization. The BN sheets in the PA6/3D-BN and PA6/3D-BN-GNP composites display a predominant parallel alignment along the ice-crystal formation constructing thermally conductive paths. The addition of few GNPs assists the dispersion of BN sheets in the PA6/3D-BN-GNP composites and repair the broken thermal paths caused by local agglomeration of the BN sheets. Consequently, GNPs play a morphology-promoted synergistic role in the enhancement of the thermal conductivity of the PA6/3D-BN-GNP composites. The PA6/3D-BN-GNP composite prepared with 23.40 wt% BN sheets and 2.60 wt% GNPs exhibits the highest thermal conductivity of 2.80 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, which is 833% and 33% higher than the values recorded for the pure PA6 and the PA6/3D-BN composite at BN loading of 26.18 wt%, respectively. Infrared imaging analysis revealed that the surface of the PA6/3D-BN-GNP composite has a fast response to heating and cooling, suggesting the potential of the composites in thermal management applications.     

Effects of yttria and magnesia on densification and thermal conductivity of sintered reaction-bonded silicon nitrides

A variety of combinations of Y₂O₃ and MgO were used as additives in preparing Si₃N₄ ceramics by the sintering of reaction-bonded silicon nitride (SRBSN) method. By varying the amount of Y₂O₃ in the range of 0-5 mol% and that of MgO in the range of 0-8 mol%, the effects of Y₂O₃ and MgO additives on nitridation and sintering behaviors as well as thermal conductivity were studied. It was found that appropriate amount and combination of Y₂O₃ and MgO additives were essential for attaining full densification and achieving high thermal conductivity. The sample doped with 2.5 mol% of Y₂O₃ and 5 mol% of MgO attained a thermal conductivity of 128 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹ when sintered at 1900°C for 6 hours, and the sample doped with 2 mol% of Y₂O₃ and 4 mol% of MgO achieved a thermal conductivity of 156 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹ when sintered for 24 hours.     

Heat transport enhancement of thermal energy storage material using graphene/ceramic composites

Graphene/ceramic composites are proposed by directly depositing graphene on the insulating Al₂O₃ particles by chemical vapor deposition without any metal catalysts. Carbothermic reduction occurring at the Al₂O₃ surface is vital during the initial stage of graphene nucleation and the graphene sheet can connect with neighboring sheets to completely cover Al₂O₃ particles. The quality and layer number of graphene on Al₂O₃ can be finely tailored by changing the growth temperature and gas ratio. Graphene coated Al₂O₃ (G-Al₂O₃) composites are used as effective fillers of stearic acid (SA) to increase the thermal transport property. By the optimization of the layer number of graphene, size of Al₂O₃ particles and ratio of G-Al₂O₃/SA in a quantitative, their thermal conductivities significantly increase up to 11 folds from 0.15 to 1.65 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹. The great improvement is attributed to the high thermal transfer performance of graphene and excellent wettability between graphene and SA. When the G-Al₂O₃/SA composites with the graphene coated porous Al₂O₃ foam, the thermal conductivity further reaches to 2.39 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, and the corresponding latent heat is 38 J g⁻¹. It demonstrates the potential applications of graphene in thermal transport and thermal energy storage devices.     

Thermal Conductivity: IV,Apparatus for Determining Thermal Conductivity by a Comparative Method

Apparatus for determining thermal conductivity by a comparative method of steady-state heat flow through 1-in. cube samples is described. Suitable precautions insure linear heat flow and low heat losses. Measurements with melting-point lead give values in good agreement with previous data. Measurements for dense Al₂O₃, BeO, and MgO indicate a conductivity which decreases with temperature from values at 100°C. of 0.50 cal. per sec.⁻¹ per °C.⁻¹ per cm.⁻² per cm. for BeO, 0.081 for MgO, and 0.067 for Al₂O₃. Values obtained are somewhat higher than most of those previously reported.     

Effects of nano-ZrO2 content on microstructure and mechanical properties of GNPs/nano-ZrO2 reinforced Al2O3/Ti(C,N) composite ceramics

Dense Al₂O₃/Ti(C,N) composite ceramics reinforced with GNPs/nano-ZrO₂ were fabricated by hot-press sintering. The effects of nano-ZrO₂ content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the prepared Al₂O₃/Ti(C,N)/GNPs/ZrO₂ composites were investigated. Results showed that nano-ZrO₂ inclusions refined the matrix grains significantly and resulted in the formation of intra-granular structure. Excellent comprehensive mechanical properties were achieved via addition of combined GNPs and nano-ZrO₂. In particular, the fracture toughness of composites incorporating GNPs (0.4 wt%)/ZrO₂ (1 wt%) exceeded 11 MPa m^1/2, which was increased by more than 86 % compared with that of Al₂O₃/Ti(C,N) ceramic composites without GNPs/ZrO₂. The main toughening mechanisms have been identified as stress-induced phase transformation, crack bridging, deflection and pull-out of GNPs. The toughening effects originated from GNPs were enhanced with the introduction of nano-ZrO₂ because of not only the residual stress resulted from phase transformation but also the formation of intra-granular structure with uneven surface around GNPs.     

Evaluation of alumina reinforced oil fly ash composites prepared by spark plasma sintering

The thermomechanical behavior of micro/nano-alumina (Al₂O₃) ceramics reinforced with 1-5 wt.% of acid-treated oil fly ash (OFA) was investigated. Composites were sintered using spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique at a temperature of 1400°C by applying a constant uniaxial pressure of 50 MPa. It was evaluated that the fracture toughness of micro- and nanosized composites improved in contrast with the monolithic alumina. Highest fracture toughness value of 4.85 MPam^1/2 was measured for the nanosized composite reinforced with 5 wt.% OFA. The thermal conductivity of the composites (nano-/microsized) decreased with the increase in temperature. However, the addition of OFA (1-5 wt.%) in nanosized alumina enhanced the thermal conductivity at an evaluated temperature. Furthermore, a minimum thermal expansion value of 6.17 ppm*K⁻¹ was measured for nanosized Al₂O₃/5 wt.% OFA composite. Microstructural characterization of Al₂O₃-OFA composites was done by x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Oil fly ash particles were seen to be well dispersed within the alumina matrix. Moreover, the comparative analysis of the nano-/microsized Al₂O₃/OFA composites shows that the mechanical and thermal properties were improved in nanosized alumina composites.     

Self-healable and reprocessible liquid crystalline elastomer and its highly thermal conductive composites by incorporating graphene via in-situ polymerization

The booming of modern electronic devices featuring increasing power and multi-functionalization demands novel high thermal conductive materials with various functions, such as self-healing property and high deformability, while traditional polymer-based or metallic-based materials could hardly provide. Therefore, we report a high thermal conductive and disulfide-based self-healable and reprocessible liquid crystalline elastomer (SHLCE) composite by incorporating graphene nanoplates (GNPs) fillers. The obtained GNPs/SHLCE composites exhibited desired thermal conductivity (5.08 Wm⁻¹ K⁻¹) when the content of GNPs was 20 wt% to the composites. Moreover, the GNPs/SHLCE composites showed intriguing recycled performance (Tensile strength after recycle could maintain over 93% compared with that of original composites). Furthermore, we concluded that the improved thermal conductivity of GNPs/SHLCE composites was beneficial to the thermal induced reprocessible and shelf-healable systems.     

Preparation and characterization of alumina/calcium-hexaluminate ceramic composites from ferrotitanium slag

Low-cost alumina/calcium-hexaluminate (Al₂O₃-CaAl₁₂O₁₉) ceramic composites were prepared using ferrotitanium slag in this paper. By making use of the TiO₂ and MgO originally existing in ferrotitanium slag, the sintering densification of Al₂O₃-CaAl₁₂O₁₉ composites was promoted. The results show that the optimum sintering temperature of the composites is 1500 ℃. The dominant sintering mechanism is the solid solution mechanism, i.e., Ti⁴⁺ and Mg²⁺ are dissolved in the CA₆ and Al₂O₃ lattices and generate numerous defects, which ultimately enhance the lattice diffusion coefficient and matter transport. Sintering densification improves the specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and thermal shock resistance of Al₂O₃-CaAl₁₂O₁₉ composites. Thermophysical properties analysis indicates that the composites can be potentially used for thermal storage and the slag-utilized ratio is about 60 wt.%. However, the layered cleavage of CA₆ limits further improvement of thermal shock resistance.     

Spherical hybrid filler BN@Al2O3 via chemical adhesive for enhancing thermal conductivity and processability of silicon rubber

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is an ideal candidate material for electrical and electronic systems due to its excellent performance. However, the addition of platelet-like h-BN leads to a dramatic increase of viscosity of composites and anisotropic thermal conductivity of composites. Herein, modified h-BN (m-BN) was coated onto spherical α-Al₂O₃ via chemical adhesive, and core-shell structured hybrid spherical filler (m-BN@Al₂O₃) was prepared. Furthermore, the microstructure, rheology, mechanical properties, and thermal conductivity of hybrid filler/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were studied. At 60 vol% filler loading, the thermal conductivity of m-BN@Al₂O₃/PDMS is up to 2.23 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹, which is 86% higher than that of Al₂O₃/PDMS and the ratio of in-plane diffusivity to through-plane diffusivity decreases from 2.0 to 1.0. At meanwhile, the viscosity of m-BN@Al₂O₃/PDMS is about one fourth of the viscosity of m-BN/Al₂O₃/PDMS. This simple and versatile strategy opens a pavement for enhancing the thermal conductivity of polymer and has great potential in high-frequency communication.     

Ultra-flexible Al2O3 fibers: A novel catalyst support material for sustainable catalysis

Flexible aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) fibers were prepared by the blow spinning method and their potential as a high-temperature catalyst support was investigated. The synthesized Al₂O₃ fibers exhibited remarkable flexibility in both mechanical compression and recovery tests, which remained intact in a wide temperature range from −196 °C to 1200 °C. Moreover, their low thermal conductivity of 0.030 W K⁻¹∙m⁻¹, demonstrated an outstanding thermal insulation. Subsequently, nickel nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the surface of the Al₂O₃ fibers as a self-supporting catalyst using a conventional impregnation method. The resulting self-supporting Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst demonstrated remarkable thermo-catalytic performance and re-activation capability at high temperatures for thermocatalytic reaction of dry reforming of methane (DRM). Our findings highlight the potential of pure Al₂O₃ flexible fibers as a versatile material for various industrial applications, including high-temperature catalysis.     

Preparation of ultralow thermal conductivity (Mg0.5Ca0.3Ba0.2) (AlSi)2O8 ceramics

A type of nonequimolar multicomponent ceramic solid solution (Mg_0.5Ca_0.3Ba_0.2) (AlSi)₂O₈ with a low thermal conductivity was prepared through solid-state synthesis. Results show that the (Mg_0.5Ca_0.3Ba_0.2) (AlSi)₂O₈ solid solution exhibits excellent high-temperature stability and an ultralow thermal conductivity (.3676 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹), far lower than widely used 3YSZ (2.9 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹), La₃NbO₇ (1.5 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹), and Gd₂Zr₂O₇ (1.28 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹). Furthermore, the Young modulus of the final product is 64.56 GPa. Therefore, the proposed ceramic solid solution provides a new research direction for ultralow thermal conductivity materials and has a practical application value for the field of wall thermal insulation.     

Anisotropy of functional properties of SiC composites with GNPs,GO and in-situ formed graphene

This paper reports on anisotropy of functional properties of different silicon carbide-graphene composites due to preferential orientation of graphene layers during sintering. Dense silicon carbide/graphene nanoplatelets (SiC/GNPs) and silicon carbide/graphene oxide (SiC/GO) composites were sintered in the presence of yttria (Y₂O₃) and alumina (Al₂O₃) sintering additives at 1800 °C in vacuum by the rapid hot pressing (RHP) technique. It is found that electrical conductivity of SiC/GNPs and SiC/GO composites increases significantly in the perpendicular direction to the RHP pressing axis, reached up to 1775 S/m in the case of SiC/GO (for 3.15 wt.% of rGO). Also, thermal diffusivity was found to increase slightly by the addition of GNPs in the SiC/GNPs composites in the perpendicular direction to the RHP pressing axis. But, in the parallel direction, the addition of GNPs showed a negative effect. The formation of graphene domains was observed in reference sample SiC-Y₂O₃-Al₂O₃ sintered by RHP, without any addition of graphene. Their presence was confirmed indirectly by increasing electrical conductivity about three orders of magnitude in comparison to the reference sample sintered by conventional hot press (HP). Raman, SEM and TEM analysis were used for direct evidence of presence of graphene domains in RHP reference sample.     

Functionalized few-layered graphene nanoplatelets for superior thermal management in heat transfer nanofluids

The superior thermal conductivity and lightweight of graphene flakes make them materials of choice for advanced heat transfer applications, especially for transport of electricity from sustainable power stations such as concentrating solar power plants. In view of the excellent thermal conductivity of graphene or graphene-like nanomaterials (3000–5000 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹), their dispersion into conventional host fluids such as water (0.613 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) or ethylene glycol (0.25 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) can significantly improve fluid heat transfer characteristics. The two-dimensional structure and high surface area as well as the cost-efficient carbon-based material make graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) suitable for large-scale applications in colloidal thermal conductive fluids. For an efficient dispersion of GNPs in base fluids, intrinsically hydrophobic GNPs were acid treated to obtain highly concentrated (4 wt.%) graphene-based nanofluids. Investigations on various GNP sizes and reaction parameters showed significant influences on the resulting thermal conductivity values of the nanofluid. After 14 h measurements in a dormant system, the most efficient nanofluid reached a thermal conductivity of 0.586 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ (the base fluid of 0.391 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) and a low viscosity of 6.39 cP resulting in an overall efficiency improvement of 77%, when compared to the base fluid without particles.