Acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive reinforced with aluminum nitride and its thermal properties: Effect of surface treatment and particle size

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are very crucial for better heat-transfer in electronics working as an interfacial connection between heat generators and heat sinks. This study is focused on the pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive tape reinforced with micron-sized and nano-sized aluminum nitride (AlN) particles where the surface modification of AlN particles is done using (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (3-APTES). The physicochemical analysis of the silanized AlN particles is done using FTIR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, thermal properties along with thermal conductivity and thermal diffusion are also studied. The main outcome of this study shows that the sample containing surface-treated AlN particles exhibits better thermal conductivity than that of the samples containing μ and nano-sized of AlN due to the comparatively better interactions with the matrix.