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Fabrication of Extruded Polyphenylsulfone – Boron Nitride Composite Tapes

Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) is a high-temperature, chemically resistant thermoplastic with high impact resistance that is often used in interior aircraft cabin components, medical devices, and membranes. The aforementioned properties have led to interest investigating PPSU’s compatibility with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) platelets as a thermally conductive, electrical composite insulator for high power-density electric machines. Preliminary trials extruding PPSU-hBN composite tapes showed promising dielectric properties and higher thermal conductivity as a function of hBN concentration compared to their neat analog. On the other hand, only few studies have reported on the extrusion process and resulting thermo-mechanical properties for PPSU and its composites made with chopped fiber reinforcement or fillers, none of which containing boron nitride filler. Prospects may exist for this type of material to be incorporated into extrusion-based additive manufacturing techniques to print other composites bearing unique properties useful for aerospace. Loading levels with up to approximately 23 wt% were achieved using micro-size BN platelets without observing any significant affects to PPSU’s glass-transition temperature. This work includes a description of the rheological properties of PPSU, the extrusion parameters for mixing and compounding the PPSU-hBN composite tapes, and the thermal and thermo-mechanical properties of PPSU-hBN composites.

polyphenylsulfone↗

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Engineered Interfaces in Extruded Polyphenylsulfone-Boron Nitride Composite Insulation

Improving matrix-filler interactions is critical for optimizing dielectric performance in composite insulation; however, the technique used to introduce inorganic fillers into an organic matrix varies in its ability to satisfactorily reduce the size of cavities and interfaces. This study reports effects from changing the filler incorporation strategy on the rheology, dielectric performance and thermal conductivity of extruded polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) – hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) composite insulation. Depending on the technique used to introduce BN into the host matrix, the viscosity, torque, and melt viscosity temperature of the polymer were reduced, enabling better mixing, heat transfer, and smaller voids. This corresponded to an increase in dielectric strength compared to other formulations at either a similar or lower filler loading. On the other hand, the thermal conductivity in these specimens shifted further away from the thermal conductivity target of 1 W/m·K, which was an indication of a larger separation distance between the particles in samples with smaller interfaces. A trade-off between dielectric strength and thermal conductivity may exist when maximizing thermal conduction without sacrificing dielectric strength.

Polyphenylsulfone↗