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Vol. 17 (2025)

Functionalized Aluminum Nitride for Improving Hydrolysis Resistances of Highly Thermally Conductive Polysiloxane Composites

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01669-5
Mukun He
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Lei Zhang
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Kunpeng Ruan
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Junliang Zhang
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Haitian Zhang
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Peng Lv
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, People’s Republic of China
Yongqiang Guo
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Xuetao Shi
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Hua Guo
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Jie Kong
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China
Junwei Gu
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Junwei Gu

gjw@nwpu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 17 (2025), Article Number: 134

Abstract

A series of divinylphenyl-acryloyl chloride copolymers (PDVB-co-PACl) is synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization employing tert-butyl acrylate and divinylbenzene as monomers. PDVB-co-PACl is utilized to graft on the surface of spherical aluminum nitride (AlN) to prepare functionalized AlN (AlN@PDVB-co-PACl). Polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) is then used as the matrix to prepare thermally conductive AlN@PDVB-co-PACl/PMHS composites with AlN@PDVB-co-PACl as fillers through blending and curing. The grafting of PDVB-co-PACl synchronously enhances the hydrolysis resistance of AlN and its interfacial compatibility with PMHS matrix. When the molecular weight of PDVB-co-PACl is 5100 g mol−1 and the grafting density is 0.8 wt%, the composites containing 75 wt% of AlN@PDVB-co-PACl exhibit the optimal comprehensive performance. The thermal conductivity (λ) of the composite is 1.14 W m−1 K−1, which enhances by 20% and 420% compared to the λ of simply physically blended AlN/PMHS composite and pure PMHS, respectively. Meanwhile, AlN@PDVB-co-PACl/PMHS composites display remarkable hydrothermal aging resistance by retaining 99.1% of its λ after soaking in 90 °C deionized water for 80 h, whereas the λ of the blended AlN/PMHS composites decreases sharply to 93.7%.


Highlights:
1 Copolymer of divinylphenyl-acryloyl chloride copolymers (PDVB-co-PACl) is designed and synthesized to graft on the surface of aluminum nitride (AlN) to improve its hydrolysis resistance.
2 AlN fillers functionalized by PDVB-co-PACl with the molecular weight of 5100 g mol-1 exhibits the highest hydrolysis resistance and the lowest interfacial thermal resistance.
3 When the mass fraction of AlN@PDVB-co-PACl is 75 wt% and the grafting density of PDVB-co-PACl is 0.8 wt%, the λ for AlN@PDVB-co-PACl/PMHS composites is 1.14 W m-1 K-1 and maintains 99.1% after soaking in 90 °C deionized water for 80 h.

Keywords

Polymethylhydrosiloxane Aluminum nitride Copolymer Thermally conductive composites
He, Mukun, Lei Zhang, Kunpeng Ruan, Junliang Zhang, Haitian Zhang, Peng Lv, Yongqiang Guo, Xuetao Shi, Hua Guo, Jie Kong, and Junwei Gu. 2025. “Functionalized Aluminum Nitride for Improving Hydrolysis Resistances of Highly Thermally Conductive Polysiloxane Composites”. Nano-Micro Letters 17 (February):134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-025-01669-5.
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