Bisphenol-Free Epoxy Resins Derived from Natural Resources Exhibiting High Thermal Conductivity

Matthias Sebastian Windberger, Evgenia Dimitriou, Frank Wiesbrock*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Polymers commonly have low thermal conductivity in the range of 0.1–0.2 W·m−1·K−1, which is a limiting factor for their usage in the course of continuously increasing miniaturization and heat generation in electronic applications. Two strategies can be applied to increase the transport of phonons in polymers: (i) the embedment of thermally conductive inorganic materials and (ii) the involvement of aromatic units enabling anisotropy by π–π stacking. In this study, the thermal conductivity of resins based on bisphenol A diglycidyl ether BADGE and 1,2,7,8-diepoxyoctane DEO was compared. DEO can be derived from pseudo-pelletierine, which is contained in the bark of the pomegranate tree. The epoxy compounds were cured with isophorone diamine IPDA, o-dianisidine DAN, or mixtures of the both diamines. Notably, isophorone diamine is derived from isophorone of which the latter naturally occurs in cranberries. The formulations were produced without filler or with 5 wt.-% of SiO2 nanoparticles. Significantly enhanced thermal conductivity in the range of 0.4 W·m−1·K−1 occurs only in DEO-based polymer networks that were cured with DAN (and do not contain SiO2 fillers). This observation is argued to originate from π–π stacking of the aromatic units of DAN enabled by the higher flexibility of the aliphatic carbon chain of DEO compared to that of BADGE. This assumption is further supported by the facts that significantly improved thermal conductivity occurs only above the glass-transition temperature and that nanoparticles appear to disrupt the π–π stacking of the aromatic groups. In summary, it can be argued that the bisphenol-free epoxy/amine resin with an epoxy compound derivable from natural resources shows favorably higher thermal conductivity in comparison to the petrol-based epoxy/amine resins.
Original languageEnglish
Article number18
Number of pages7
JournalProceedings MDPI AG
Volume69
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2021
Event1st International Conference on “Green” Polymer Materials 2020: CGPM 2020 - Virtuell
Duration: 5 Nov 202025 Nov 2020

Fields of Expertise

  • Advanced Materials Science

Cooperations

  • NAWI Graz

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