Thermal conductivity of silicone elastomer with a porous alumina continuum

Abstract

In this paper, porous alumina continuum (PAC) was prepared with alumina powders (APs) by the gel-casting method and was applied to obtain silicone elastomer (SR) composites (PAC/SR) by the impregnating process. The structure was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The influences of PAC on thermal conductivity and dielectric permittivity of PAC/SR composites were studied in comparison with AP/SR composites. When the alumina content was 14 vol%, the thermal conductivity of the PAC/SR composites reached 0.84 W·(m·K)-1, which was 3.1 times higher than that of the AP/SR composites. The thermal conductivity of PAC/SR and AP/SR was simulated by theoretical models, and the interfacial thermal resistance was calculated by effective medium theory, which indicated the advantages of PAC in enhancing the thermal conductivity of SR-based composites and the reduced interfacial thermal resistance between PAC and SR.