Thermal Properties of epoxy composites with silicon carbide and/or graphite

Epoxy composites were fabricated with a filler of silicon carbide (SiC) and/or graphite to improve the thermal conductivity and thereby enhance the transfer of the heat from the light-emitting diode (LED) to the heat sink. The two fillers (SiC and graphite) were each added either separately, within a content range of 10 − 50 wt.%, or together to give a combined total content of 40 − 60 wt.%. The effect of the filler addition on the thermal and the mechanical properties of the epoxy composites was examined. The filler-induced change on the structural properties was investigated by using a morphological analysis of the epoxy composites, and the thermal conductivity was analyzed by measuring the thermal diffusivity, heat specific, and density. To confirm the adhesive property with aluminum, which is mostly used as the heat sink material were tested, the mechanical properties by using a bonding test with a modified tensile test. The thermal and the mechanical properties were improved with increasing filler content in the epoxy composites. In the case of combined filler addition, graphite was more effective than SiC in increasing the thermal properties. However, excessive filler addition reduced the epoxy’s natural adhesive property and hence degraded the mechanical properties.