Dispersion uniformity and thermal path evolution of aluminum nitride/polypropylene nanocomposites prepared by in-situ polymerization

The creation of high-performance thermal interface materials requires novel solutions to address the problems of nanoparticle agglomeration and thermal conductivity. This study demonstrates effective synthesis of aluminum nitride/polypropylene nanocomposites by in situ polymerisation, resulting in uniform dispersion and higher thermal conductivity compared to traditional techniques. This method promoted a strong interaction of the polymer with the particles, leading to uniform dispersion indices of over 0.9. The thermal conductivity of the nanocomposite reached 2.18 W/m·K, which is almost a tenfold improvement compared to neat polypropylene. Particle distribution analysis and thermal property evaluation showed that the morphology of the sample possessed uniform particle distribution and the formation of a thermally conductive network above critical concentration. Thermally induced nucleation was observed to enhance crystallinity, while the percolation threshold behaviour exhibited explosive percolation-type sharp changes in thermal conductivity. The elucidated structure-property relationships suggest the development of thermal pathways and enable more rational approaches in designing the subsequent generation of thermal interface materials for use in electronic packaging.