Effects of Boron Nitride Nanoplatelets on the Mechanical Properties of Spark Plasma Sintered Glass-Ceramics Composites

Boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNPs) with superior mechanical properties can be a promising candidate as reinforcement to improve the toughness of glass-ceramics. Herein, glass-ceramics composites reinforced with well-dispersed BNNPs are fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The addition of BNNP enhances the mechanical properties of glass-ceramics and inhibits the nucleation and growth of the diopside. The number of diopsides and the grain size gradually decrease with the increase of BNNP content. The mere addition of 1.0 wt% BNNPs can simultaneously increase the hardness and fracture toughness by 7.94% and 22.54%, respectively. Crack deflection, BNNP pull-out, crack blocking, and crack bridging are the main toughening mechanisms, and the toughening model is established to optimize the design of BNNP-reinforced composites. Boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNP) with superior mechanical properties would be a promising candidate as reinforcement to improve the mechanical properties of glass-ceramics. Herein, glass-ceramics composites are fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The effects of BNNP on the crystallization and mechanical properties of the composites and the toughening mechanism are discussed and then the toughening model is established.image (c) 2023 WILEY-VCH GmbH

Automated summary

Boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNP) has been investigated as a potential reinforcement to improve the toughness of glass-ceramics. In this study, glass-ceramic composites reinforced with well-dispersed BNNPs were fabricated using spark plasma sintering. The addition of BNNP enhanced the mechanical properties of the composites and inhibited the nucleation and growth of diopside. The toughening mechanisms were identified as crack deflection, BNNP pull-out, crack blocking, and crack bridging, and a toughening model was established to optimize the design of BNNP-reinforced composites.