Formation of aluminum nitride nanofibers using electrospinning and their application to thermal conductive sheets

Abstract

Aluminum nitride (AlN) nanofibers were formed by heating polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/boehmite precursor nanofibers at various temperatures in nitrogen gas flow. We designed AlN nanofiber as an effective thermal conductive filler to create long linear heat-transfer pathways in the resin. Aligned AlN nanofiber mats were fabricated using electrospinning of PVA/boehmite composite aqueous solution and were impregnated with polyvinyl butyral (PVB) solutions. The obtained sheets containing the aligned AlN nanofiber 47, 52, and 54 vol% had excellent thermal conductivity, 22, 21, and 19 W/(m·K), for aligned nanofibers direction in the sheet. The PVB/AlN nanofibers composite sheet also showed good electrical insulating properties below 1.0 × 1012 Ω/cm2. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]