Selective interactions of glycidylamine epoxy/boron nitride nanosheets as a facile method to reinforce bisphenol-A epoxy resins

The nanofiller/polymer interfacial compatibility is a crucial factor for maximizing the reinforcing effect of nanofillers in a polymer matrix. In this work, we repot a facile method to enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of bisphenol-A epoxy resin by incorporating very low concentrations (≤1 wt%) of non-covalently-modified boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs). The BNNSs exhibit selective interactions with different types of epoxy resins. For example, 92.1% of BNNSs were transferred from the water phase to the N, N-diglycidyl-4-glycidyloxyaniline (E5026) phase by mixing, as compared with only 71.5% of BNNSs for the bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether (E1675). This opens up a new possibility for using E5026 as the BNNS surface modifier to improve the interfacial compatibility of BNNSs and other types of epoxies without involving harsh chemicals and tedious surface modification processes. When the E5026 is incorporated in the BNNS/E1675 formulation, the synergistic effect of BNNSs and E5026 has simultaneously enhanced the thermal stability at high temperature via char formation, altered the fracture mechanism, improved the dynamic mechanical and the tensile properties of E1675-based resin. The current method is straightforward, more environmentally friendly and could be easily adapted by the industry. [Display omitted] •The boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) exhibit selective interactions with different types of epoxy resins.•The glycidylamine epoxy/BNNSs interaction is more favorable than that of the bisphenol-A epoxy/BNNSs.•The glycidylamine epoxy-modified BNNSs surpass the performance of the unmodified BNNSs in reinforcing the bisphenol-A epoxy resin.•The modified BNNSs enhance the thermal and mechanical properties of bisphenol-A epoxy at very low BNNS concentrations, i. e ≤ 1 wt%.