journal article·2025-02Open access

A Moldable, Tough Mineral‐Dominated Nanocomposite as a Recyclable Structural Material

Yadong Yu, Yexuan Li, Zeyu Gong, Peng Liao, Yanyu Ma, Lina Zhou, Junbo Gong

Small· Volume 21· Issue 7

Abstract

Abstract Flexible hybrid minerals, primarily composed of inorganic ionic crystal nanolines and a small amount of organic molecules, have significant potential for the development of sustainable structural materials. However, the weak interactions and insufficient crosslinking among the inorganic nanolines limit the mechanical enhancement and application of these hybrid minerals in high‐strength structural materials. Inspired by tough biominerals and modern reinforced concrete structures, this study proposes introducing an aramid nanofiber (ANF) network as a flexible framework during the polymerization of calcium phosphate oligomers (CPO), crosslinked by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA). This approach allows the flexible inorganic nanolines formed through CPO polymerization to be integrated into the organic framework, thereby creating tough mineral‐based structural materials (inorganic content: 70.7 wt.%), denoted as PVA/SA/ANF/CPO (PSAC). The multiple intermolecular interactions between the organic and inorganic phases, combined with the integrated nano‐reinforced concrete structure, endow PSAC with significantly enhanced tensile strength (86.6 ± 8.6 MPa), comparable to that of high‐strength polymer plastics. Moreover, PSAC possesses excellent plasticity and flame retardancy. The noncovalent molecular interactions within PSAC enable efficient recyclability. Consequently, PSAC has the potential to replace high‐strength polymer plastics and structural components, providing a promising avenue for developing high‐strength and toughness mineral‐based structural materials.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition · Bone Tissue Engineering Materials · TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Chemical Engineering and Technology State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering Tianjin University Tianjin 300072 P. R. China

The Co‐Innovation Centre of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Tianjin Tianjin 300072 P. R. China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China

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