Enhanced thermal conductivity of BN / PEK‐CN composites by bionic polydopamine modified BN

Abstract The rapid advancement of energy, electronic, and microelectronic technology has resulted in a surge of interest in the study of functional composites. One of the current hotspots in this field is the exploitation of polymer composites with excellent thermal conductivity and great thermal stability. Based upon the composition of the adhesion proteins of shellfish, dopamine chemistry was applied to the non‐chemical surface modification of chemically inert fillers by generating polydopamine (PDA) films on their surfaces. In this paper, we utilized poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) (PEK‐CN) resin as matrix and DA modified boron nitride (BN) as filler to prepare BN@PDA/PEK‐CN composites by hot‐pressing method. The thermal conductivity and thermal stability of the composites for a given BN loading can be enhanced by surface functionalization of BN. The composites based on 30%BN@PDA/PEK‐CN exhibited a through‐plane thermal conductivity ( λ ⊥ ) of 0.941 Wm −1 K −1 , upward 275% from a pure resin matrix and higher than that of the untreated 30 wt% BN/PEK‐CN composites (0.713 Wm −1 K −1 ). The Heat resistance index ( T HRI ) of 30% BN@PDA/PEK‐CN was subsequently raised to 329.8°C. Overall, our developed BN@PDA/PEK‐CN composites exhibit favorable thermal conductivity along with remarkable thermal stability, making them highly promising for utilization in electronic packaging applications. Highlights BN@PDA/PEK‐CN were prepared via a DA self‐polymerization bionic mussel strategy. Thermal conductivity ( λ ⊥ ) increased to 0.941 Wm −1 K −1 for 30% BN@PDA/PEK‐CN. The T HRI increased to 329.8°C, with an increase of 61.1°C.