Enhanced thermal properties of polyamide 6, 6 composite/aluminum hybrid via injection joining strategy

Polymer- metal hybrid with high thermal conduction and lightweight are of great importance for reducing material and energy consumptions. Firstly, the synergistic improvement in the thermal and mechanical properties of polyamide 6, 6 (PA 66) were investigated. By adding hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and short carbon fiber (SCF) to PA 66, the thermal conductivity coefficient of the composite was significantly increased from 0.4 to 1.21 W/(m·K), with an excellent tensile strength about 100.9 MPa. Then, a new injection joining strategy was presented to fabricate the polymer composite-metal hybrid using in heat transfer and weight reduction fields. Thanks to the three-dimensional conductive networks embedded within the metal and polymer composites, the molded PA 66 composites-Aluminum alloy (Al) hybrid structure with good interface bonding strength exhibits outstanding thermal diffusivity, reaching to 2.88 m2/s which is about 9-folds compared to that of the neat PA 66. The surface temperature of the fabricated samples over time in heating and cooling process was also recorded by an infrared camera. As an environment friendly, scalable methodology, it provides much more convenience than those of the existing commercial technologies for production of the polymer-metal hybrid which can be used in fields with requirement of heat transfer, lightweight and complex structure.