Enhancement in thermal conductivity of polymer composites using aligned diamonds coated with superparamagnetic magnetite

Abstract We report magnetic alignment of single-crystalline microdiamonds with aid of superparamagnetic magnetite in polymeric composites and their material properties. The silicone composite containing aligned microdiamonds shows interesting properties in alignment direction, including enhancement of thermal conductivity, 250% higher than that of randomly dispersed counterpart at a low loading of 5.1 vol%. Composites with aligned diamond exhibited enhanced thermal conductivity and electrical insulation compared with matrix, and are attractive for application as thermal interface materials in the semiconductor industry, though the introduction of magnetite had part of negative effect on electrical resistivity of composites. A two-level model that accounts first-order interaction between particles to calculate effective thermal conductivity of composites with aligned microdiamonds, is found to fit accurately absolute value and tendency of thermal conductivity for composites with aligned particles. Utilizing the modelling procedure, the volume fraction of microdiamonds within chains is 0.3, which is smaller than 0.698 predicted for ideal body-centered-tetragonal arrangement of particles. This suggested that thermal conductivity of composites can be enhanced further by improving microstructures within particle chains.