High electromagnetic wave absorption and flame retardancy performance from NF@HCS/NF-filled epoxy-based electronic packaging material

Abstract

The irresistible trend towards the higher power density of the next generation integrated circuits (ICs) has brought inevitable issues of electromagnetic interference and thermal runaway, which are hard to solve merely by polymer-based packaging materials. As demonstrated in this work, an epoxy-based composite with efficient electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption and flame-retardant performances was fabricated to meet the needs. The combination of hollow carbon spheres (HCS) and multi-scale nickel ferrites (i.e., NF@HCS/NF) was proved to be a successful approach toward the strong absorption of incident EMW, with the lowest reflection loss (designated as RL_min) value of −59.5 dB at a matching thickness of 2.0 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 2.9 GHz. Moreover, the NF@HCS/NF/EP composite exhibits high thermal stability and flame retardancy owing to the physical barrier effect of naturally non-combustible NF, with an 8% higher thermal decomposition temperature (T_10% using here) and a 37.5% reduced total heat release (THR) value compared to pure EP. Besides, the NF@HCS/NF/EP composite possesses a volumetric resistivity of ∼3 × 10¹¹ Ω cm and a low viscosity of ∼10 000 MPa s, indicating properties of high electrical insulation and fluidity. Such an NF@HCS/NF/EP composite with high EMW absorption, flame retardancy, electrical insulation, and fluidity suggests its potential in the advanced electronic packaging field.