Thermal rectification of a vanadium dioxide based conductive thermal diode under transient Dirichlet conditions

•Study of the behaviour of a VO2 based thermal diode under transient condition.•The properties of VO2 in full aspects under transient conditions are considered.•Nonlinear heat diffusion equation is solved using implicit finite difference method.•The thermal rectification is investigated by changing various parameters.•The thermal rectification reaches higher values under transient conditions.