Coral reefs-inspired strategy for hierarchical prussian blue derived nickel phyllosilicate architecture: Efficient flame retardancy and mechanical reinforcement of epoxy nanocomposites
Shibin Nie, Zongquan Zhao, Jingwen Wang, Shijie Xia, Haodong Chen, Hongwu Li, Lei Ye, Zhoufeng Wang
Abstract
The development of epoxy (EP) nanocomposites has emerged as a prominent research area across diverse sectors, including automotive, construction, and aerospace industries. Recently, adopting biomimetic strategies for the preparation of nanomaterials to design multifunctional epoxy resins has emerged as a prominent research hotspot. Inspired by the growth pattern of coral reefs, this study successfully engineered a novel hierarchical nanostructured material (Fe-NiPS-PBA) with the aim of creating EP nanocomposites that exhibit highly flame-retardant efficiency, exceptional mechanical strength, and distinguished wear-resisting property even at low additive concentrations. With a 3 wt% addition of Fe-NiPS-PBA, the limiting oxygen index of the EP/3Fe-NiPS-PBA nanocomposite increased from 23.5 to 25.9, achieving a UL-94 V-0 rating. Compared to pure EP, EP/3Fe-NiPS-PBA nanocomposite reduced the peak heat release rate (PHRR), total heat release (THR), peak smoke production rate (PSPR), total smoke production (TSP), and maximum CO emission (MCO) by 44.1 %, 66.7 %, 47.0 %, 67.8 %, and 51.7 %, respectively. Moreover, the incorporation of a 1 wt% additive resulted in significant enhancements of tensile strength from 76.7 MPa to 96.9 MPa, while the wear rate demonstrated a remarkable reduction of 77.8 %. The Fe-NiPS-PBA significantly enhanced the fire performance and mechanical strength of EP nanocomposites, demonstrating exceptional overall performance in various applications. A novel hierarchical Fe-NiPS-PBA architecture was fabricated using a bio-inspired strategy based on the growth pattern of coral reefs. Subsequently, Fe-NiPS-PBA was incorporated into epoxy resin (EP) through a solution blending method to produce EP nanocomposites exhibiting exceptional flame retardancy, mechanical strength, and wear-resisting performance. The phase structure and layered morphology of Fe-NiPS-PBA were analyzed, and the positive effects on the flame retardancy, mechanical strength and wear-resisting performance of EP nanocomposites were evaluated in detail. • A coral reefs-inspired hierarchical Fe-NiPS-PBA was innovatively synthesized. • 3.0 wt% of Fe-NiPS-PBA enabled EP to achieve a UL-94 V-0 rating. • EP/3Fe-NiPS-PBA nanocomposite exhibited significant decrease in PHRR, THR, PSPR, TSP, MCO and MCO 2 . • The mechanical strength and wear-resisting properties of EP were greatly enhanced.