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Research Article

Strong, tough, and thermally conductive nacre-inspired boron nitride nanosheet/epoxy layered nanocomposites

Huagao Wang1,2,3,§, Rongjian Lu4,§, Lei Li1, Cheng Liang1, Jia Yan1,2,3, Rui Liang5, Guoxing Sun6, Lei Jiang1,2,3, Qunfeng Cheng1,2,3,7( )
School of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123, China
Department of Stomatology, Fifth Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100039, China
Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Innovation Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau 999078 China
Joint Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau 999078, China
Institute of Energy Materials Science (IEMS), University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

§ Huagao Wang and Rongjian Lu contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

Inspired by nacre, we demonstrate a lightweight, strong, tough, and thermally conductive boron nitride nanosheet/epoxy layered (BNNEL) nanocomposite. The obtained layered nanocomposite shows superior flexural strength of 168.90 MPa, fracture toughness of 4.22 MPa·m1/2 with low density of 1.23 g/cm3, and thermal conductivity of ~ 0.47 W/(m·K).

Abstract

Thermally conductive polymer nanocomposites integrated with lightweight, excellent flexural strength, and high fracture toughness (KIc) would be of great use in many fields. However, achieving all of these properties simultaneously remains a great challenge. Inspired by natural nacre, here we demonstrate a lightweight, strong, tough, and thermally conductive boron nitride nanosheet/epoxy layered (BNNEL) nanocomposite. Because of the layered structure and enhancing the interfacial interactions through hydrogen bonding and Si–O–B covalent bonding, the resulting nacre-inspired BNNEL nanocomposites show high fracture toughness of ~ 4.22 MPa·m1/2, which is 7 folds as high as pure epoxy. Moreover, the BNNEL nanocomposites demonstrate sufficient flexural strength (~ 168.90 MPa, comparable to epoxy resin), while also being lightweight (~ 1.23 g/cm3). Additionally, the BNNEL nanocomposites display a thermal conductivity (κ) of ~ 0.47 W/(m·K) at low boron nitride nanosheet loading of 2.08 vol.%, which is 2.7 times higher than that of pure epoxy resin. The developed nacre-inspired strategy of layered structure design and interfacial enhancement provides an avenue for fabricating high mechanical properties and thermally conductive polymer nanocomposites.

Keywords

flexural strengththermal conductivitynanocompositesfracture toughness (KIc)nacre-inspiration

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Nano Research
Volume 17 Issue 2,
February 2024
Pages 820-828
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-6101-4
Cite this article:
Wang H, Lu R, Li L, et al. Strong, tough, and thermally conductive nacre-inspired boron nitride nanosheet/epoxy layered nanocomposites. Nano Research, 2024, 17(2): 820-828. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6101-4
Topics:
Biomimetic materials Nanosheets
Part of a topical collection:
NR45 Awards in Bio-inspired Nanomaterials, 2023

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Received: 27 June 2023
Revised: 05 August 2023
Accepted: 16 August 2023
Published: 26 September 2023
© Tsinghua University Press 2023
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