Simultaneous Strengthening and Toughening of Epoxy Resins via a Novel Inorganic Filler With Two‐Dimensional Nanostructure

ABSTRACT Epoxy resins (EPs) are plagued by inherent brittleness and inadequate thermal tolerance, severely limiting their deployment in high‐end engineering scenarios. In this work, we introduce a novel inorganic filler, ZnTeMoO 6 , which can be readily exfoliated into two‐dimensional (2D) sheet‐like nanostructures through a facile ultrasonic treatment. The unique lamellar morphology of ZnTeMoO 6 not only maximizes its specific surface area but also fosters robust interfacial adhesion with the epoxy matrix. This structural advantage enables simultaneous strengthening and impact resistance of the composite through synergistic mechanisms including efficient stress transfer, crack pinning, and lamellar bending. Remarkably, nanoindentation measurements reveal an appreciable local irreversible deformation response of ZnTeMoO 6 , which may provide an additional pathway for energy dissipation in the composite. Systematic mechanical characterizations validate the exceptional reinforcement efficacy: at a proper filler loading of 1.0 wt%, the ZnTeMoO 6 /EP composite demonstrates remarkable improvements in tensile, impact, flexural, and compressive strengths by 21.5%, 90.9%, 23.2%, and 12.0%, respectively. Compared with previously used 2D nanofiller modification strategies, the ZnTeMoO 6 ‐based approach offers a simple, cost‐effective, and highly efficient route to address the limitations of EPs, significantly expanding their application prospects in high‐end engineering applications.