Development of Organic-Inorganic High Thermal Performance Composites Reinforced with Nanofibers for 3D Printing

Tian-Hong Lang; Lu Tong; Li-Xue Yang; Ze-Yi Chen; De-Chi Qi; Yi-Bin Dong; Zheng Sun; Qing Li; Xiao-Fei Song; Jiu-Ke Mu

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3555-3

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Development of Organic-Inorganic High Thermal Performance Composites Reinforced with Nanofibers for 3D Printing

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-03-26

- Development of Organic-Inorganic High Thermal Performance Composites Reinforced with Nanofibers for 3D Printing
- Development of Organic-Inorganic High Thermal Performance Composites Reinforced with Nanofibers for 3D Printing
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷第4期页码：1035-1045
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
  b.Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123, China
  c.Yangtze River Delta Carbon Fiber and Composite Material Innovation Center, Changzhou 213000, China
- Author bio：
  
  liqing@tju.edu.cn (Q.L.)
  jiukemu@tju.edu.cn (J.K.M.)
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52575343 and 52175026), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST, the Peiyang Startup Foundation, and Funding of Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of the Ministry of Education. Basic Research Program of Coordinated Development of the Beijing Tianjin–Hebei Region (No. E2024202287).;The authors declare no interest conflict.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) is available free of charge in the online version of this article at http://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3555-3.The data supporting the ﬁndings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3555-3
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-10-17，
  
  录用：2026-01-03，
  
  网络首发：2026-03-02，
  
  纸质出版：2026-04-05
- Accepted：
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Lang, T. H.; Tong, L.; Yang, L. X.; Chen, Z. Y.; Qi, D. C.; Dong, Y. B.; Sun, Z.; Li, Q.; Song, X. F.; Mu, J. K. Development of organic-inorganic high thermal performance composites reinforced with nanofibers for 3D printing. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 1035–1045

Tian-Hong Lang, Lu Tong, Li-Xue Yang, et al. Development of Organic-Inorganic High Thermal Performance Composites Reinforced with Nanofibers for 3D Printing[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(4): 1035-1045.
Lang, T. H.; Tong, L.; Yang, L. X.; Chen, Z. Y.; Qi, D. C.; Dong, Y. B.; Sun, Z.; Li, Q.; Song, X. F.; Mu, J. K. Development of organic-inorganic high thermal performance composites reinforced with nanofibers for 3D printing. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 1035–1045 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3555-3.

Tian-Hong Lang, Lu Tong, Li-Xue Yang, et al. Development of Organic-Inorganic High Thermal Performance Composites Reinforced with Nanofibers for 3D Printing[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(4): 1035-1045. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3555-3.

摘要

A dual-filler strategy combining boron nitride and electrospun polymer nanofibers in a thermoplastic polyurethane matrix is developed to enhance thermal conductivity of 3D printing filaments without compromising mechanical strength or printability. The resulting filaments show improved heat conduction

retained insulation

and partially recovered tensile performance.

Abstract

Integrating inorganic fillers into polymer-based 3D printing filaments is an effective strategy for improving thermal conduction but often compromises mechanical properties. In this study

we introduced electrospun polymer nanofibers (NF) into thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filaments alongside a ceramic filler

boron nitride (BN). By combining these organic (NF) and inorganic (BN) fillers

we created a dual-filler filament (TPU/BN/NF) that exhibited enhanced thermal conduction pathways without sacrificing the mechanical strength and electrical insulation. Comprehensive characterization demonstrated that BN improved heat transport

while a small fraction of electrospun NF effectively modulated the tensile modulus and partially recovered the strength lost upon BN addition. Finite element simulations further elucidated the influence of the nanofiber content

orientation

and length-to-diameter ratio on the mechanical performance. Notably

the dual-filler filaments retained good printability in standard fused deposition modeling (FDM) systems at optimized temperatures (about 210 °C). These findings offer a scalable approach for engineer multifunctional 3D printing filaments for 3D-printed thermal management products that require both thermal conduction performance and high insulation.

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references

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