Fabrication of β-cyclodextrin-crosslinked epoxy polybutadiene/hydroxylated boron nitride nanocomposites with improved mechanical and thermal-conducting properties

Abstract In this work, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) was modified to introduce hydroxyl groups. The abundant hydroxyl groups in β-cyclodextrin (βCD) provide many reactive sites to form covalent links with epoxy groups in epoxy butadiene rubber (EBR). Therefore, we propose the utilization of biological βCD as a novel interfacial crosslinker, assisting in the dispersion of the hydroxylated hBN (mBN) via hydrogen bonding, to prepare EBR/βCD/mBN nanocomposites. Such interfacial interactions not only effectively promote the homogeneous dispersion of mBN in the matrix, but also enhance the mechanical property of nanocomposites. Meanwhile, a high thermal conductivity of 0.187 W/m K was obtained by introducing mBN (4 wt%), reaching 2.83 times of the value for the vulcanized butadiene rubber (BR, 0.066 W/m K). The promising mechanical and thermal conductivity properties of our new materials, and the environmentally friendly curing agent makes them attractive for thermal management application, the tread and sidewall compound of tire.