Effect of Alumina Nanowires on the Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Performance of Epoxy Composites

Abstract

Alumina nanowires (Al2O3-NWs)/epoxy resin composites have been thoroughly studied due to their excellent insulating and dielectric performance. In particular, understanding the effect of nano-alumina with different morphologies on the dielectric performance of composites is of great significance. In this study, Al2O3-NWs with lengths of approximately 100 nm and diameters of approximately 5 nm were prepared and blended with anepoxy resin to form composites, and the effect of the mass fraction of fillers on the thermal conductivity of the composites was investigated. Specifically, the effect of alumina fillers with ananowire structure on the insulating and dielectric performance and breakdown strength of the epoxy composites were analyzed. The influence principle of the interfacial effect and heat accumulation on the dielectric and insulating properties of the composites were described. The results demonstrated that the thermal conductivity of Al2O3-NWs/epoxy resin composites was higher than that of the bare epoxy resin. The thermal conductivity of Al2O3-NWs/epoxy resin composites increased with increasing mass fraction of fillers. When the mass fraction of fillers was 10%, the thermal conductivity of the composite was 134% higher than that of the epoxy resin matrix. The volume resistivity of the composites first increased and then decreased as the mass fraction of fillers increased, while the dielectric constant of the composites increased with increasing mass fraction of fillers and decreasing frequency. The dielectric loss of the composites decreased and then increased as the mass fraction of fillers increased, and it increased with increasing frequency. Additionally, the alternating current breakdown strength of the composites first increased and then decreased withincreasingmass fraction of fillers.