Thermal properties of poly(vinyl butyral)/iron oxide composite nanofibers

Abstract

In the present study, iron(II, III) oxide nanoparticles are added to the electrospinning solution of poly(vinyl butyral) in order to yield electrospun composite poly(vinyl butyral)/iron oxide nanofibers. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses confirm the successful incorporation of iron(II, III) oxide nanoparticles in the nanofibers. Differential scanning calorimetry results show a decrease of approximately 6 °C in the glass transition temperature of the nanofibers with the addition of 1.0 % iron(II, III) oxide nanoparticle compared to neat poly(vinyl butyral) nanofibers. The infrared thermograms suggest the formation of a thermally conductive network for poly(vinyl butyral)/iron oxide nanofibers with faster and more evenly heat dissipation compared to that of neat poly(vinyl butyral) nanofibers while thermal conductivity coefficient of the poly(vinyl butyral) nanofibers is found to increase by 57 % with 1.0 % of nano iron oxide loading. The increased thermal conductivity and thermal absorptivity values suggest the cooling effect of the poly(vinyl butyral)/iron oxide composite nanofibers, which are promising materials for thermal management applications.