Thermal properties of AlN (nano) filled LDPE composites

Abstract

Abstract The thermal properties of aluminium nitride nano-particles (n-AlN) filled into low-density polyethylene (LDPE) are discussed. Cylindrical specimens were prepared using a melt mixing process. X-ray diffraction was performed to characterize the structural properties of the pellets under investigation. The X-ray diffraction analysis confirms the change in secondary structure, such as crystallinity, of the LDPE due to the dispersion of n-AlN powder. The thermal stability of pure and n-AlN filled LDPE was checked by performing thermo-gravimetric analysis. The analysis confirms an improvement in the thermal stability of LDPE due to n-AlN addition. The thermal conductivity of the samples was measured using a KD 2 Pro device (based on the transient hot wire technique of thermal conductivity measurement) at room temperature. Our finding reveals ∼1.36 fold enhancement in the effective thermal conductivity of LDPE due to the addition of 15 vol.% of n-AlN. The room-temperature thermal conductivity data of the investigated pellets were analyzed as a function of n-AlN concentration in the light of available theoretical models and correlations. The variation in thermal conductivity data of LDPE with n-AlN concentration is well explained by the semi-empirical model proposed by Agari and Uno.