Nanomechanical study of aqueous-processed h-BN reinforced PVA composites

Sahoo, P and Chaturvedi, A and Ramamurty, U and Matte, HSSR (2023) Nanomechanical study of aqueous-processed h-BN reinforced PVA composites. In: Nanotechnology, 34 (9).

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Abstract

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as a filler has significantly improved the mechanical properties of various polymers composites. Among them, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is particularly important for its wide range of industrial applications and biocompatibility nature. However, preparing a homogenous composite of h-BN and PVA in water is troublesome as the aqueous processing of h-BN without any additives is challenging. In this context, a pre-processing technique is used to produce an additive-free aqueous dispersion of h-BN. The uniformly dispersed composites are then prepared with different concentrations of h-BN. Free-standing thin films are fabricated using the doctor blade technique, and nanoindentation is employed to understand their deformation behaviour at smaller length scale for better understanding of micro-mechanism involved. Reduced elastic modulus and hardness of 10 wt% h-BN/PVA composite film are enhanced by ∼93% and ∼159%, respectively, compared to pristine PVA. Frequency sweep dynamic mechanical analysis is performed between 1 and 50 Hz, and the elastic properties of composite materials are found to improve significantly upon addition of h-BN nanosheets. Besides, the impact of h-BN incorporation in stress relaxation behaviour and hardness depth profiling are also investigated. The observed improvement in mechanical properties of the composites may be attributed to the uniform distribution of the nanosheets and the strong interfacial interaction between h-BN and PVA, which ensures efficient mechanical stress transfer at the interface. © 2022 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Nanotechnology
Publisher:	Institute of Physics
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Institute of Physics.
Keywords:	Additives; Boron nitride; Dynamic mechanical analysis; Dynamics; Filled polymers; Hardness; III-V semiconductors; Nanoindentation; Nitrides; Thin films, Aqueous dispersions; Aqueous processing; Doctor blade technique; Hexagonal boron nitride; Nano indentation; Nanomechanical studies; Polymer composite; Polyvinyl alcohol composite; Pre-processing techniques; Quasi static analysis, Stress relaxation
Department/Centre:	Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences > Centre for Nano Science and Engineering
Date Deposited:	27 Jan 2023 07:20
Last Modified:	27 Jan 2023 07:20
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/79532

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