A New Class of Polymer Nanocomposites Using Surface Passivated Reactive Nanoparticles

"Building upon Fraunhofer Center's recently developed process of producing reactive nanoparticles (e.g., metals, carbides and nitrides) at high rates in a pristine environment, and Nanopowder Enterprises Inc.'s technology of dispersing nanoparticlesuniformly as a second phase in a polymer matrix, we propose to develop a generic technology for fabricating polymer nanocomposites, wherein the dispersed phase is a reactive material. A novel aspect of the proposed approach is that the surface passivationlayer is integrated into the matrix during post processing, thereby leading to a clean and continuous interface between the nanoparticle and the matrix. While the technology we propose to develop is generic and can be applied to metals and ceramics alike,we will demonstrate its applicability by fabricating essentially oxygen-free aluminum nitride - polymer nanocomposites that have a high volume loading of nanoparticles, thereby leading to exceptional thermal conductivity in heat sinks. Partnerships havealso been formed with major corporations to implement the generic technology in multiple applications, once it is fully developed in Phase II. The lack of an effective surface passivation technology has prevented realizing the full potential of reactivenanoparticles, particularly because a majority of the nanoparticles do not lend themselves to self-passivation. The proposed approach is generic and applies to a range of electronic applications. We propose to demonstrate the technology for heat sinks (foruse in power transistors, thyristors, LD and LED) in Phase I."