Flame retardancy of epoxy resin nanocomposite with a novel polymeric nanoflame retardant

Abstract

A wrapped nanoflame retardant, designated as polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)‐poly(4‐bromostyrene) (PBS)‐carbon nanotubes (CNTs), was synthesized via π‐π stacking interactions between the walls of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and the silicon‐bromine containing hybrid copolymer (designated as POSS‐PBS) that was copolymerized by 4‐bromostyrene and acryloyloxyisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane. The POSS‐PBS‐CNTs exhibited good dispersibility in epoxy resin (EP) without obvious aggregation. Furthermore, the fire behaviors of this flame‐retardant EP (FR‐EP) nanocomposites were examined via limited oxygen index (LOI) and cone calorimeter (CONE) tests. The FR‐EP had an ideal LOI value of 35.3% and its residual char yield obtained from CONE test was significantly enhanced from 5.9% to 15.3% with the incorporation of 4 wt% POSS‐PBS‐CNTs and 1.33 wt% Sb2O3 into EP matrix. Additionally, the addition of 4 wt% POSS‐PBS‐CNTs or POSS‐PBS can efficiently decrease the peak heat release rate (PHRR) of EP matrix by 41.0% or 45.6%, respectively.