Effects of aluminium nitride silane-treatment on the mechanical and thermal properties of polybenzoxazine matrix

Abstract

A new kind of polymer composite, produced from the typical polybenzoxazine and 0–30 wt-% native and silane-treated aluminium nitride (T-AlN), was investigated. The mechanical tests revealed a significant increase in the microhardness and flexural properties upon adding the T-AlN particles compared to that obtained from the untreated ones. By adding 0–30 wt-% T-AlN, the tensile moduli were accurately reproduced by the Halpin-Tsai and Nielsen models. At 30 wt-% T-AlN, dynamic mechanical analysis showed a significant increase in the storage moduli and the glass transition temperature (T_g), reaching 3.2 GPa and 217°C, respectively. The thermal stability of these materials was significantly improved upon the addition of the T-AlN fillers. These improvements are attributed to the high thermal and mechanical properties of the fillers and their good dispersion and adhesion in and to the matrix as revealed by a morphological analysis.

Keywords:

• Polymer composites
• Polybenzoxazine
• Aluminum nitride
• Mechanical properties
• Thermal properties
• Silane-treatment

Acknowledgements

The authors significantly appreciated the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 50973022), Specialized Research Funds for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Project No. 20122304110019), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Project No. HEUCFT1009) and the open fund of Key Laboratory of Superlight Material and Surface Technology of Ministry of Education, Harbin Engineering University.