Study of Nacre-like h-BN/waterborne polyurethane nanocomposite with high-thermal, mechanical and water resistance properties

Nacre-like polymer nanocomposites have become fascinating material nowadays because of their exceptional mechanical property. In this study, nacre-like waterborne polyurethane/hexagonal boron nitride (WPU/h-BN) nanocomposite with high-thermal, mechanical and water resistance has been successfully prepared via mechanical blending method. Owing to strong interfacial interactions and a nacre-like structure, the WPU/h-BN nanocomposite with a loading amount of 30 wt% exhibits excellent tensile strength of 27.3 MPa, compared with 4.16 MPa for pure WPU. Additionally, it has an exceptional maximum decomposition temperature of 443 °C and an outstanding water absorption ratio of 8.1 %. This approach of adopting h-BN and WPU to construct nacre-like structure may provide a new path for preparing high performance WPU strategies.