Multifunctional boron nitride nanosheets cured epoxy resins with highly thermal conductivity and enhanced flame retardancy for thermal management applications

With the rapid improvement of microelectronics integration and assembly technology, the increasing heat flux density in electronic devices puts forward higher requirements for efficient heat dissipation and fire safety of thermal management materials (TMMS). In this work, we proposed a facile method to exfoliate and organically modify hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) via phytic acid assisted-ball milling and self-assembly of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF-8). And the obtained multifunctional additive (BAZF) successfully achieved the synergistic integration of highly thermal conductivity and superior fire safety in epoxy resin (EP). Besides, BAZF was also utilized as a curing agent to initiate the crosslinking reaction of EP, and the activation energy (Eα) and kinetic parameters of curing process were obtained by the fitting of Kissinger and Crane equation. Compared to EP, the peak heat release rate (PHRR), smoke production rate (SPR) of EP composites containing 16 wt% BAZF significantly reduced by 58.2% and 47.7%, respectively, showing superior flame retardancy. Contributed by the good compatibility between fillers and matrix, BAZF significantly enhanced the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of EP composites. As a result, this work provides a cost-effective route for the preparation of epoxy-based TMMS, which shows significant potential application in modern microelectronic industry.