Thermal conductivity improvement of surface-enhanced polyetherimide (PEI) composites using polyimide-coated h-BN particles

In this study, we investigated the thermal conductivities and mechanical properties of polyetherimide (PEI) composites using polyimide (PI)-coated h-BN (PI-BN) particles. We found that PI-coated h-BN effectively increased adhesion with the PEI matrix, imparting enhanced mechanical and thermal stability and thermal conductivity with increasing BN content. The thermal conductivity of the PEI composite containing 60 wt% PI-BN was 3.3 W m(-1) K(-1), while the thermal conductivity of the PEI/BN composite without modification was 2.6 W m(-1) K(-1). The PEI/PI-BN composites show higher impact strengths than the PEI/BN composites because of less BN particle agglomeration and good wettability between PEI and h-BN. The results indicate that the PI-coated BN incorporated into the PEI matrix effectively enhances the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the PEI composites.