Thermally conductive poly(lactic acid)/boron nitride composites via regenerated cellulose assisted Pickering emulsion approach

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.06.015

Abstract

Abstract:

Polymer-based thermally conductive composites have attracted tremendous interest in thermal management of electronics. However, it remains challenging to achieve high thermal conductivity partly because the difficulty to obtain favorable distribution and orientation of conductive fillers within the polymer matrix. Herein, networked boron nitride (BN) conductive pathway was realized within the poly (lactic acid) (PLA) matrix, via regenerated cellulose (RC)-assisted assembly of BN on Pickering emulsion interface based on the noncovalent interaction, followed by solvent evaporation and hot-compressing. The strong noncovalent interactions between BN and RC were found critical to enhance the wettability and stability of BN in aqueous media with a lowest mass ratio of 1:40 of RC and BN. The obtained PLA/BN composites feature a thermal conductivity of 1.06 W/mK at 28.4 wt% BN loading, representing an enhancement of 430% comparing to neat PLA, and the crystallinity of the composites could increase significantly from 11.7% (neat PLA) to 43.7%. This simple, environmentally friendly and effective strategy could be easily extended for effective construction of thermally conductive composites.

Key words: Boron nitride, Regenerated cellulose, Emulsion, Noncovalent interaction, Thermal conductivity

Yating Wang, Hong Jin, Jiajun Shen, Bijia Wang, Xueling Feng, Zhiping Mao, Yumei Zhang, Xiaofeng Sui. Thermally conductive poly(lactic acid)/boron nitride composites via regenerated cellulose assisted Pickering emulsion approach[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2022, 101: 146-154.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration showing RC induced assembly of BNs to fabricate highly thermally conductive PLA/BN composites

Fig. 2. (a) TEM image of RC; (b,c) SEM and AFM images of BN; (d,e) optical and TEM images of BN/RC (10:1) suspension; (f) zeta potential values of RC and BN under neutral pH; (g) FTIR spectra of RC, BN and BN/RC; (h) schematic illustration showing assembly of BN and RC via hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions; (i-k) the snapshots of BN/RC from MD simulations; (l) the total interaction energies of RC-Water, BN-Water and BN-RC.

Fig. 3. Characterization of the Pickering emulsions. (a) A photograph and (b) size distribution of the Pickering emulsions; (c) calculated coverage of BN on the emulsion surface; (d-e) optical micrographs and (h-k) fluorescence micrographs the Pickering emulsions of varying BN loadings.

Fig. 4. Cryo-SEM images of the RC stabilized Pickering emulsions: (a) without BN and (b), (c) with 28.4 wt% BN; (d) schematic illustration showing the emulsification of PLA/DCM in water by RC and BN.

Fig. 5. (a-d) SEM images of the PLA/BN microspheres; (e-f) SEM images showing the cross-section of the PLA/BN composites; (i) XRD patterns; (j) DSC; and (k) TGA curves of the PLA/BN composites with different BN loadings.

Fig. 6. (a) Thermal conductivity; (b) logarithm of thermal conductivity; (c1, c2) thermal transfer mechanism of PLA/BN composites prepared by different methods; (d) enhancement on thermal conductivity; (e) infrared thermal images; and (f) surface temperature of the PLA/BN composites.

Table 1 Comparation of C1and C2 based on Agari model.

	Pickering emulsion templated composites	Melt blended composites
C1	1.07	1.02
C2	1.44	0.6

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