Influence of powder morphology, size and its distribution on thermal conductivity of epoxy resin composites

Epoxy resin composite filled with α-Al2O3 powder has been prepared, and the influence of powder morphology, size and its distribution on the thermal conductivity of the composites has also been explored in this work. The results show that the powder particle with worm or coral shape is much better than that with spherical or quasi globular shape in enhancing the thermal conductivity of composite. When particle size less than 800nm, with powder size decreases, the thermal conductivity of the composite is decrescent. Powder particle size has little influence on the thermal conductivity of the composite, when particle size is greater than 800nm.