Facile synthesizing the homogeneous hierarchical nanosheets of nickel phyllosilicate to enhance the wear resistance, mechanical response and thermal stability of epoxy composites

This work provides a facile route to synthesize the homogeneous hierarchical nanosheets of nickel phyllosilicate (HN-NiPS), which are imparted into epoxy resin (EP) to yield the composites. Various measurements are adopted to examine the structure and compositions of HN-NiPS and the structure-property relationships of EP composites. Results show that HN-NiPS is composed of multi-scaled nanosheets, of which the tiny nanopetals of nickel phyllosilicate grow in situ perpendicularly to a relatively large metal-organic-framework-derived plane. Adequate HN-NiPS disperses well in the EP matrix, not only moderately elevating the tensile strength and elastic modulus, but also improving the tribological properties significantly under starved lubrication. The lowest wear rate of 1.94×10-5 mm3/Nm is achieved with 3% HN-NiPS and ca. 72.1% lower than pure EP. The introduced HN-NiPS suppresses the weight loss rate and changes the reaction order insignificantly based on Carrasco whereas activation energies decline gradually with increased filler content. This study contributes robust, thermal stable and wear-resistant polymeric composites strengthened involving the homogeneous hierarchical nanosheets.