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Completed TRL 4 (started at 3, targeting 4)
The uniqueness for this project is the use and fabrication of BNNS to develop high thermal conductivity insulation layers for electrical machine components and thermal interface material for power electronic devices. Compressible flow exfoliation (CFE) is a new method for the continuous, high throughput production of high-quality 2D BNNS in an environmentally friendly and economical process. BNNS particles are exfoliated in a fraction of a second using supersonic gas flow. Our preliminary studies has demonstrated high degree of certainty in the quality and stability of BNNS produced by CFE to use as additive for nanocomposites fabrication.
Another important key to technology advancement is parallel design on multiple levels. By infiltrating, the nanocomposites into the Litz wire not only will be evaluating the performance of the new material but also valuable information will be gained about the interaction behaviors of those components as a system.
Next step after this year's work will explore in depth the infusion of applying BNNS nanocomposite insulation around the electric components. Other testing of the new class of the epoxy BNNS nanocomposite materials will evaluated thermal and volumetric expansion, and material thermal cycling and degradation over time.
The project is for the development of high thermally conductive nanocomposite materials boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS). The state-of-the-art polymer insulation materials possess poor thermal conductivity (i.e., 0.2 - 0.5 W/mK). The main goal is reach a conductivity of 5 W/mK or higher together with high-performance dielectric breakdown voltage and physical properties capabilities.
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