Thermal conductivity of polyurethane composites containing nanometer- and micrometer-sized silver particles

摘要

Polyurethane composites containing spherical and flake-shaped silver fillers of micrometer and nanometer sizes were prepared by reacting suspensions of the silver filler in tetraethylene glycol with Desmodur® HL BA. Both the thermal conductivity and the stability of the silver composites are increased in comparison with a reference polyurethane sample without filler. Unexpectedly, the largest increases in thermal conductivity and stability are observed for the spherical silver particles of micrometer size but not for the silver nanoparticles, which is reasoned with larger aggregates of silver particles and a higher degree of crystallinity in the sample containing micrometer-sized silver particles.