Enhanced wear resistance while maintaining transparency of epoxy resin coatings filled with novel one-dimensional magnesium borate hydroxide nanorods

Wear resistance and transparency are critical properties of polymer coatings. In this study, a novel nanocoating filler composed of one-dimensional inorganic magnesium borate hydroxide (MBH) nanorods was used to improve the wear resistance and transparency of epoxy resin (EP) coatings. After successfully synthesizing MBH nanorods, different amounts were added to EP coatings to prepare EP/MBH nanocomposites, denoted as ExMBH (x = 1, 5, and 10 wt% MBH). The transparency and wear resistance of the neat and MBH-filled EP coatings were estimated using optical transmittance and nanoscratch testing, respectively. The results indicate that E10MBH displays a transmittance of more than 85 % in the visible region and a low value in the UV region, resulting from the similar refractive indices of the MBH filler and EP. Additionally, the scratch recovery index and scratch hardness increase by 53 % and 22 %, respectively, while the plastic deformation energy decreases by 67 % compared to that of the neat EP coating. The E10MBH nanocoating presents excellent wear resistance due to the formation of a solid three-dimensional network structure between EP and MBH. This paper demonstrates an effective strategy for designing inorganic nanofillers to improve the mechanical durability and optical properties of EP nanocoatings.