Improving thermal conductivity of polymer composites in embedded LEDs systems

Polymer embedding of LEDs increases safety and waterproof levels in LED based lighting systems. The embedding allows for mechanical flexibility of these systems. The increase of polymer thermal conductivity has been a research challenge for decades. Here, we suggest materials for enhancing thermal conductivity in polymer embedded LED systems. We demonstrate that thermally conductive fillers into the polymer matrix to form a composite improved heat transfer from the LEDs to the environment. Non metallic boron nitride with a high intrinsic thermal conductivity is a good candidate. Thermal conductivity of basic polymer PDMS with various filler size and polymer ratios is reported here. Here, an in situ measurement tool to fast evaluate the quality of the composites in LED applications is demonstrated. Future work will focus on further increasing the thermal conductivity of the composites by using different mixtures. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved