Enhanced thermal conductivity and mechanical property through boron nitride hot string in polyvinylidene fluoride fibers by electrospinning

The electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based modified boron nitride (m-BN) composite with high thermal conductivity and flexible mechanical property was successfully fabricated by electro-spinning method. The uniform dispersion and ordered orientation of m-BN in the m-BN/PVDF composites form a hot string, denoted as a series of thermal conduction fillers, in the direction of the fiber. Hence, the thermal conductivity of the m-BN/PVDF film could reach to 7.29 W m(-1)K(-1) with the addition of 30 wt% m-BN. Besides, the obtained composites also show improved mechanical properties with the tensile strength of 24.06 MPa, low dielectric permittivity of 2.45 and dielectric loss of 0.0242 @ 10(3) Hz. Therefore, this work provides a new route to prepare the high thermal conductivity films with potential application as flexible power devices. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.