A facile method to prepare oriented boron nitride-based polymer composite with enhanced thermal conductivity and mechanical properties

Hexagonal boron nitride (BN) is often used as filler to improve the thermal conductivity of polymer matrix due to its high thermal conductivity. However, previously reported BN-based composites always have a high in-plane thermal conductivity, which is not beneficial for vertical heat dissipation. In addition, high BN content results in the deterioration of the mechanical properties. Here, we report a feasible method to prepare a BN/silicone rubber (SiR) composite with oriented BN in organosilicon matrix via a vacuum-assisted self-assembly technique. The BN/SiR composite displays a 1270% higher (2.74 W/(m·K)) thermal conductivity than that of neat organosilicon matrix (0.20 W/(m·K)). The oriented BN nanosheets increase the polymer's adhesive force and exhibit excellent compression cycle performance. In turn, these features support its superiority as thermal interface material in the light-emitting diode chips heat dissipation application.