Fire and electrically resistive silicone elastomer/alumina trihydrate composites derived from nanoclay and chopped glass fibres for industrial fire safety

Abstract

Limiting oxygen index (LOI), flammability and electrical resistance of silicone elastomer (SiR)/alumina trihydrate (ATH) were investigated with the introduction of montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay and chopped glass fibres (CGF). Results exhibited that MMT and/or CGF helped in improving the LOI and flame-retardant ability of SiR/ATH30. LOI of SiR/ATH30 was measured at 30% whilst it improved to 31% and 34% in MMT and/or CGF-filled composites. Interestingly, CGF offered better fire resistance to SiR/ATH30 than MMT. Moreover, the joint addition of MMT and CGF in the SiR/ATH30 exhibited the most improved flammability resistance. MMT/CGF slightly reduced the volume resistivity of SiR/ATH30 whereas, it is still measured as higher relative pristine SiR. Among all, SiR/ATH30/MMT5/CGF3 appeared a most promising candidate relatively with the peak heat release rate (pHRR), peak rate of smoke release (pRSR), peak mass loss rate (pMLR) and volume resistivity of 144.6 kW/m2, 1.53 (m2/s)/m2, 0.0436 g/s and 5.6 × 1010 Ω•cm.