Investigation of the synergetic effect of hybrid fillers of hexagonal boron nitride, graphene nanoplatelets and short basalt fibers for improved properties of polyphenylene sulfide composites

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the addition of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and/or graphene nanoplatelets (GnP) to basalt fiber (BF)-reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) matrix composites at different weight ratios, both alone and hybrid, on the composite properties. Mechanical, tribological, thermal, and thermomechanical properties of the composites were evaluated using analyses such as tensile test at different ambient temperatures (23 °C and 70 °C), adhesive wear test, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimeter analysis, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The results of the tensile test at 70 °C showed that the addition of 0.3 wt% GnP and 1 wt% hBN to the BF-reinforced composites resulted in a 40% increase in tensile strength. In addition, the composite containing 0.3 wt% GnP and 10 wt% hBN showed a 25% increase in high-temperature tensile strength, a 37% decrease in COF value, and a 10 °C improvement in T_40% thermal decomposition temperature. Furthermore, the analysis results showed that the hybrid inclusion of GnP and hBN to the BF-reinforced PPS matrix composites improved the high-temperature tensile strength, adhesive wear resistance and thermal resistance properties. As a result, it is concluded that the hybrid use of GnP and hBN provides superior properties to the composites for advanced composite applications where mechanical, tribological and thermal performance is required along with electrical properties.