Vertically Aligned Boron Nitride Nanosheets Films for Superior Electronic Cooling

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Thermal Engineering

Background:

• Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are crucial for electronic cooling, requiring high thermal conductivity and electrical insulation.
• Conventional polymer-based TIMs with high filler content often compromise reliability and interfacial thermal resistance.
• Need for advanced materials to improve heat transfer efficiency in high-power electronics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop high-performance TIMs using vertically aligned boron nitride nanosheet films (VBNFs) as fillers.
• To investigate the effect of VBNFs' structure and crystallinity on TIM properties.
• To evaluate the thermal and electrical performance of fabricated TIMs for electronic cooling applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of VBNFs using scalable microfluidic spinning and template-assisted chemical vapor deposition conversion.
• High-temperature annealing to enhance VBNF crystallinity.
• Incorporation of VBNFs into polymer matrices to create TIMs.

Main Results:

• Achieved superior through-plane thermal conductivity of 6.4 W m^-1 K^-1 at low boron nitride (BN) loading (9.85 vol %).
• Demonstrated low modulus (2.2 MPa) due to well-aligned VBNF structure and high crystallinity.
• Exhibited high-volume resistivity and breakdown strength, meeting electrical insulation requirements.

Conclusions:

• VBNFs enable the fabrication of high-performance TIMs with excellent thermal conductivity and mechanical properties.
• The template-assisted conversion technology provides a scalable route for producing oriented BN nanosheet structures.
• These advanced TIMs are promising for efficient thermal management in high-power electronic devices, such as LEDs.