Improved thermal conductivity of styrene acrylic resin with carbon nanotubes, graphene and boron nitride hybrid fillers

Abstract In the process of printing and copying, the volatilization of toner produces tiny particles and harmful gases that are detrimental to the human body. Low-temperature printing and copying can reduce harmful gas emissions. Styrene acrylic resin is the main component of toner and the thermal conductivity of toner can be improved by increasing the thermal conductivity of styrene acrylic resin. In this paper, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), carboxyl modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH) and graphene hybrid fillers were added into styrene acrylic resin to improve the thermal conductivity of resin composite by forming a connected thermal conductivity network in resin. The experimental result shows that the thermal conductivity of the h-BN/styrene acrylic resin composite increases with the increase in h-BN filler content (0-20wt%). When 20.0 wt% h-BN is added into styrene acrylic resin, the thermal conductivity is increased by 83.63%. Hybrid fillers (MWCNTs-COOH/graphene and 3.0 wt% h-BN) were added in styrene acrylic resin and the thermal conductivity of the composite is almost the same or higher than that of 20.0 wt% h-BN/styrene acrylic resin composite. The thermal conductivity of styrene acrylic resin composites improved by 69.57% and 87.14% via adding 1.5wt% CNTs-3 wt% h-BN and 1.0wt% graphene-3 wt% h-BN. MWCNTs-COOH or graphene can bridge isolated h-BN aggregates to form a thermally conductive network in styrene acrylic resin, while the addition of graphene improves the thermal conductivity of resin composite higher than that of MWCNTs-COOH.