Thermally conductive nylon 6,6 and polycarbonate based resins. I. Synergistic effects of carbon fillers

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-4-2003

Department

Department of Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Increasing the thermal conductivity of typically insulating polymers, such as nylon 6,6, opens new markets. A thermally conductive resin can be used for heat-sink applications. This research focused on performing compounding runs followed by injection molding and thermal conductivity testing of carbon filled nylon 6,6 and polycarbonate based resins. The three carbon fillers investigated included an electrically conductive carbon black, synthetic graphite particles, and a milled pitch-based carbon fiber. For each polymer, conductive resins were produced and tested that contained varying amounts of these single carbon fillers. In addition, combinations of fillers were investigated by conducting a full 23 factorial design and a complete replicate in each polymer. The objective of this article was to determine the effects and interactions of each filler on the thermal conductivity properties of the conductive resins. From the through-plane thermal conductivity results, it was determined that for both nylon 6,6 and polycarbonate based resins, synthetic graphite particles caused the largest increase in composite thermal conductivity, followed by carbon fibers. The combination of synthetic graphite particles and carbon fiber had the third most important effect on composite thermal conductivity.

Publication Title

Journal of Applied Polymer Science

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