Properties and application of polyimide‐based composites by blending surface functionalized boron nitride nanoplates

ABSTRACT Ball milling was used to decrease the particle size of boron nitride (BN) nanoplates and to form more silylated functionalization of their surface. Such functionalized BN nanoplates enhanced their homogeneous dispersion in polyimide (PI) matrix. Thermal conductivities, thermal stabilities, and dielectric properties were characterized to investigate the particular effects on the performance of PI‐based composites with functionalized BN nanoplates. When the concentration of functionalized BN nanoplates increased to 50 wt %, thermal conductivity of the composite increased up to 1.583 W m −1 K −1 , and the temperature of final thermal decomposition was improved to 600°C. An increasing trend was found in the dielectric constant of the composites while the dielectric loss decreased with the increase in the fraction. An appropriate fraction of functionalized BN nanoplates in PI‐based composites were necessary to meet the requirement of withstanding drilling forces for the interconnecting through holes of flexible circuits. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41889.