A novel silver nanoparticle-deposited aluminum oxide hybrids for epoxy composites with enhanced thermal conductivity and energy density

AlN/AgNPs/epoxy composites were fabricated successfully, and the thermal conductivity and the dielectric properties of the composites were investigated. The thermal conductivity of the AlN/AgNPs/epoxy composites was enhanced compared with the pure epoxy resin and the AlN/epoxy composites. The samples containing 40 wt% AlN/AgNPs exhibit the highest thermal conductivity (4.72 Wm−1K−1), which is as high as 22 times to that of neat epoxy resin. We attribute the enhanced thermal conductivity to the silver nanoparticles, which can ‘bridge’ the adjacent fillers in the matrix and form a more effective heat-conducting network.