Thermally conductive polymer composition

1. A polymer composition having an in-plane thermal conductivity of about 2.0 W/m-K or more, wherein the composition comprises:

100 parts by weight of at least one aromatic liquid crystalline polyester;

from about 10 to about 50 parts by weight of an inorganic material having a hardness value of about 2.5 or more based on the Mohs hardness scale; and

from about 20 to about 80 parts by weight of a thermally conductive particulate material having an average size of from about 1 to about 100 micrometers.

2. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein about 70% by volume or more of the thermally conductive particulate material has an average size of from about 1 to about 100 micrometers.

3. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein liquid crystalline polyesters constitute from about 20 wt. % to about 70 wt. % of the polymer composition.

4. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the liquid crystalline polyester has a glass transition temperature of about 100° C. or more and/or a melting temperature of about 200° C. or more.

5. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the liquid crystalline polyester contains repeating units derived from terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, hydroquinone, 4,4′-biphenol, acetaminophen, or a combination thereof.

6. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic material is in the form of particles.

7. The polymer composition of claim 6 , wherein the inorganic material includes calcium pyrophosphate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, or a combination thereof.

8. The polymer composition of claim 6 , wherein the particles of the inorganic material have a median size of from about 0.1 to about 35 micrometers.

9. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic material is in the form of mineral fibers.

10. The polymer composition of claim 9 , wherein the mineral fibers are derived from wollastonite.

11. The polymer composition of claim 9 , wherein the mineral fibers have a median width of from about 0.1 to about 35 micrometers.

12. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic filler material constitutes from about 20 wt. % to about 60 wt. % of the polymer composition and the thermally conductive particulate material constitutes from about 1 wt. % to about 50 wt. % of the polymer composition.

13. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive particulate material has a specific surface area of about 0.5 m 2 /g or more.

14. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive particulate material has a powder tap density of from about 0.2 to about 1.0 g/cm 3 .

15. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive particulate material has an intrinsic thermal conductivity of about 50 W/m-K or more.

16. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive particulate material includes boron nitride.

17. The polymer composition of claim 16 , wherein boron nitride constitutes about 50 wt. % or more of the thermally conductive particulate material in the polymer composition.

18. The polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the polymer composition has a through-plane thermal conductivity of about 0.30 W/m-K or more.

19. A shaped part comprising the polymer composition of claim 1 .

20. A camera module comprising the shaped part of claim 19 .

21. The camera module of claim 20 , wherein the camera module comprises a generally planar base on which is mounted a carrier assembly, wherein the base, carrier assembly, or both contain the molded part.