Silane surface modification of boron nitride for high thermal conductivity with polyphenylene sulfide via melt mixing method

Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) is a promising engineering polymer, which is used for various industrial applications. In this study, we developed a highly thermally conductive PPS composite containing boron nitride (BN) as a thermally conductive ceramic filler. (3‐Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane was doped onto the surface of hydroxyl‐functionalized BN using a simple sol–gel process. The modified BN particles were embedded in a PPS matrix via a melt mixing process using a twin extruder to form BN‐Si composites. The maximum thermal conductivity 3.09 W/m·K was exhibited by the surface‐modified BN‐Si containing 60 wt%. This value was 116% higher than the thermal conductivities of the pristine BN and PPS matrix, respectively. The surface‐treated composites also showed an improved storage modulus because of an improvement in the interfacial adhesion and interaction between the BN filler and the PPS matrix. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.