Improvements of Thermal, Mechanical, and Water-Resistance Properties of Polybenzoxazine/Boron Carbide Nanocomposites

Novel kinds of nanocomposites based on bisphenol A-aniline based polybenzoxazine matrix P(BA-a) and 0 wt.%–20 wt.% boron carbide (B4C) nanoparticles were produced and their properties were evaluated in terms of the nano-B4C content. The thermal conductivity of the P(BA-a) matrix was improved approximately three times from 0.18 W/m K to 0.86 W/m K at 20 wt.% nano-B4C loading, while its coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was deceased by 47% with the same nanofiller content. The microhardness properties were significantly improved by adding the B4C nanoparticles. At 20 wt.% of nano-B4C content, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed a marked increase in the storage modulus and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the nanocomposites, reaching 3.9 GPa and 204°C, respectively. Hot water uptake tests showed that the water-resistance of the polybenzoxazine matrix was increased by filling with nano-B4C nano-filler. The morphological analysis reflected that the improvements obtained in the mechanical and thermal properties are related to the uniform dispersion of the nano-B4C particles and their strong adhesion to the P(BA-a) matrix.