Investigation of the morphology in AlN filled epoxy based composite materials

This paper investigates the structure of bisphenol-A epoxy based composites with low amounts of aluminium nitride (from 0.5 to 10 % by weight), which were originally chosen for their high thermal conductivity. Aim of this research was to investigate the applicability of interphase models on amorphous thermosets. The filler content was confirmed with thermogravimetric analysis, and previous measurements of the dielectric properties re-examined. The results of transmission electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry suggest that epoxy based insulation materials don´t exhibit distinct interfacial restructuring on the nanoscale, but rather a widespread change of the micro structure, even for smallest amounts of additives.