Epoxy resin with glycidyl-methacrylate-modified boron nitride nanosheets for radiation resistance

Epoxy resin (EP) has good mechanical and insulating properties and is widely used in the aerospace and nuclear industry. However, it can become degraded and failure-prone in high-energy radiation environments. Although boron nitride (BN) is stable in high-radiation fields, the actual performance of the radiation stability of BN is limited owing to its poor compatibility with the polymer matrix. In this study, boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) were modified by applying radiation to prepare BNNSs modified by glycidyl-methacrylate (BNNSs@PGMA), which has good compatibility with EP. Then, BNNSs@PGMA were introduced into the EP matrix by employing solution blending to prepare EP composites: EP, BNNSs/EP, and BNNSs@PGMA/EP. Moreover, the changes in the properties of these composites before and after γ-ray irradiation were investigated. The results indicated that the tensile strength of EP composites first increased and then decreased with an increasing absorbed dose. Radiation crosslinking dominated in the case of an absorbed dose of 0-400 kGy, whereas radiation cracking played a leading role for an absorbed dose of 400-1 000 kGy. For the absorbed dose of 1 000 kGy, the tensile strength of EP decreased by 42.9%, whereas that of BNNSs@PGMA/EP decreased by only 21.3%, which indicated more excellent radiation resistance. In addition, the resistance of the composites was improved by increasing the degree of modification in BNNSs@PGMA.