Atomic-scale insights into interface thermal resistance between epoxy and boron nitride in nanocomposites

XM Yang and X Wang and WC Wang and Y Fu and Q Xie, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER, 159, 120105 (2020).

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2020.120105

The out-plane thermal conductivity of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet (hBNNS)/epoxy resin (EP) composites in the perpendicular to the lamellar layers direction as well as the interface thermal resistance (ITR) between EP and hBNNS in nanocomposites are investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and compared with those of the graphene nanosheet (GNS)/epoxy nanocomposites and experimental results. Results show that the out-plane thermal conductivity of the hBNNS/EP is higher than that of GNS/EP at the same volume fraction of the fillers. The obtained ITR between EP and GNS is (4.48-8.43)x10(-9) m(2) KW-1, consistent with the previous reported experimental and simulation results. Interestingly, the calculated ITR between EP and hBNNS is (2.42-3.62)x10(-9) m(2) KW-1, smaller than that between EP and GNS. The ITRs exponentially decay with the number of layers of hBNNS (or GNS). This work provides insights into predicting and understanding the thermal conductivity of hBN and graphene-based nanocomposites using computational approaches. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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