Thermal and dielectric properties of fiber reinforced polystyrene composites

Thermal and dielectric properties of polymer composites are important for many applications such as microelectronic packaging. In this work, glass fiber, alumina fiber, and carbon fiber reinforced polystyrene composites have been prepared with melt blending. The thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, and dielectric properties of the composites have been systematically studied as a function of fiber fraction. It is found that all the three types of the fibers, particularly the carbon fiber, can significantly increase the thermal conductivity and decrease the thermal expansion of the polymer. Moreover, the incorporation of the glass or alumina fibers does not have obviously adverse effect on the dielectric constant of the polymer. The thermal conductivities of the fibers reinforced composites have also been analyzed with Agari's model to reveal the conductive enhancement nature of the fibers to the polymer. POLYM. COMPOS., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers