Rationally designed zinc borate@ZIF-8 core-shell nanorods for curing epoxy resins along with low flammability and high mechanical property

Abstract Here zinc borate@ZIF-8 (ZB@ZIF-8) hybrid nanorods were constructed through self-template strategy using zinc borate as the template, so as to realize the multifunctionalization of epoxy resins. By virtue of this smart design, it rationally combined the structural and functional advantages of the curing capability of ZIF-8 and the flame-retardant efficiency of ZB into core-shell nanoarchitecture, which could facilitate the curing of epoxy resins, improve the fire safety and enhance the physical-mechanical property of epoxy thermosets. Benefiting from this design, the apparent activation energy for ZB@ZIF-8 nanorods to cure epoxy resins is lower than ZIF-8, and epoxy thermosets cured by ZB@ZIF-8 presented lower flammability and higher mechanical properties as compared to epoxy thermosets cured by ZIF-8 individually.