Abstract
Ceramics have superior hardness, strength and corrosion resistance, but are also associated with poor toughness. Here, we propose the boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNP) as a novel toughening reinforcement component to ceramics with outstanding mechanical properties and high-temperature stability. We used a planetary ball-milling process to exfoliate BNNPs in a scalable manner and functionalizes them with polystyrene sulfonate. Non-covalently functionalized BNNPs were homogeneously dispersed with Si3N4 powders using a surfactant and then consolidated by hot pressing. The fracture toughness of the BNNP/Si3N4 nanocomposite increased by as much as 24.7% with 2 vol.% of BNNPs. Furthermore, BNNPs enhanced strength (9.4%) and the tribological properties (26.7%) of the ceramic matrix. Microstructural analyzes have shown that the toughening mechanisms are combinations of the pull-out, crack bridging, branching and blunting mechanisms.
Highlights
Ceramics have superior hardness, strength and corrosion resistance, but are associated with poor toughness
To overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of carbon-based nanomaterials for ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), we focused on a nanomaterial based on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as an alternative reinforcement for CMCs
During the high-energy planetary ball-milling process, the upper layers of h-BN were detached from their bodies due to the shear force generated during the process
Summary
Strength and corrosion resistance, but are associated with poor toughness. We propose the boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNP) as a novel toughening reinforcement component to ceramics with outstanding mechanical properties and high-temperature stability. Ceramic materials have been widely used for structural applications given their superior mechanical properties (such as hardness and strength), good corrosion resistance, and stability at high temperatures. Unlike CNTs, graphene can be synthesized by facile top-down processes from graphite. Due to these advantages of graphenes, they have been widely used as a reinforcement material for CMCs4–8. Carbon-based nanomaterials such as CNTs and graphenes have a critical weakness when used in specific applications due to their poor high-temperature stability. BNNP-reinforced CMCs may be promising for high-temperature applications such as high-speed slide bearings, brake system components, or for certain aerospace applications www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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