Chapter 8 - Flame retardancy and thermal properties of graphitic carbon nitride-based materials

Abstract

Due to the unique two-dimensional structure and thermal properties, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has been adopted as a promising flame retardant additive for various materials. In contrast to the conventional flame retardants, the incorporation of lower amount of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) can reduce the flammability of polymers as evidenced by the significant reduction in peak heat release rate (pHRR), total heat release rate (THR), and peak smoke release rate (pSRR) during combustion. This chapter deals with a comprehensive overview of the works related to the thermal and flame retardant properties of g-C3N4-based composite materials. It is clear that, for majority of the cases the addition of g-C3N4 into the polymer matrix, resulting significant improvement in thermal and fire resistance properties of the composites. Although several interesting results are obtained so far with the g-C3N4/polymer hybrids, there are plenty of research prospects available in this particular area. We anticipate the readers to get inspired further for exploring the gap areas on thermal applications of g-C3N4 and related challenges.