Enhanced ablative resistance of epoxy composites at low loadings of boron nitride nanotubes by the formation of near-graphitic structures

Abstract

An effect of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) with a low concentration on the ablative resistance of the epoxy matrix was evaluated. A linear ablation rate of a 0.3 wt% BNNT/epoxy composite was notably enhanced by 24.23% compared to neat epoxy. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy revealed that it was ascribed to the formation of near-graphite rod structures with much larger diameters than BNNT particles in the non-graphitizable epoxy matrix during the ablation tests, similar to the reports on the MWCNT-containing polymer composites. The results indicate that non-carbon nanotube structures also act as the nucleation sites of graphitization in the polymeric matrix during pyrolysis in an ablation process.

Keywords:

• boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT)
• epoxy
• nanocomposite
• ablation property
• turbostratic graphite

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning [2015R1A2A2A01006203].