Study on the effects of fillers on the properties of high temperature polymer composites for electronics packaging

• Main Author: Phee, Darrel Chin Ann
• Other Authors: Gan Chee Lip
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials::Electronic packaging materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/146783
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In this project, resorcinol-based phthalonitrile (PN) with different loadings of silica fillers were fabricated. The effect of different amounts of silica fillers incorporated into the resorcinol-based phthalonitrile polymer were investigated. The curing behaviour were studied with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Scanning Electron Microscope/ Energy Dispersive Microscopy (SEM/EDX) was done to investigate the filler dispersion with different amounts of silica loading. TGA was done till 800°C in both air and nitrogen to assess the composite’s thermal stability. It revealed that the thermal properties of the polymer were enhanced following higher loading of silica fillers. FTIR spectra of the polymers revealed that there was formation of triazine, isoindoline and phthalocyanine after the curing process. The EDX mapping revealed some agglomeration of the fillers after curing even at low filler loadings. This study investigated how different silica fillers affect the PN, providing an understanding of how the different weight percentage of fillers affect the curing behaviour, thermal stability, and dispersion of fillers in the polymer.