Functionally graded and self-assembled carbon nanofiber and boron nitride in nanopaper for electrical actuation of shape memory nanocomposites

The present work studies the synergistic effect of self-assembled carbon nanofiber (CNF) and boron nitride (BN) nanopaper on the electrical and thermal properties, and electro-activated shape memory effect (SME) of polymeric shape memory nanocomposites. CNF and BN are first self-assembled on carbon fibers by means of deposition at a high pressure to form functionally graded nanopaper with high electrical and thermal conductivity. The resultant nanopaper is then coated on the surface of shape memory polymer (SMP) to enable actuation by means of Joule heating via passing an electrical current through CNFs and carbon fiber. Here, BN is introduced to improve the thermal conductivity and large dissimilarity of the nanocomposite for enhanced heat transfer and electric-activated shape recovery. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.