Flexible transparent flame‐retardant membrane based on a novel UV‐curable phosphorus‐containing acrylate

Abstract

SummaryA novel phosphorus‐containing acrylate monomer (AOPA) was synthesized starting from 2‐methy‐2,5‐dioxo‐1,2‐oxaphospholane and hydroxyethyl acrylate. The structure of AOPA was characterized with FTIR and 1H NMR. AOPA shows good compatibility with polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and can polymerize with PEGDA under UV light irradiation at different mass ratios to form membranes with high transparency (above 88.9% of light transmittance in the range of 400‐800 nm) and flexibility. Incorporating 20 wt% of AOPA in PEGDA reduced the total heat release and peak rate by 50.3% and 38.4%, respectively, as measured by micro combustion calorimeter. The membrane containing 40 wt% of AOPA with 0.4 mm thickness can pass the UL94 V0 rating, and limiting oxygen index reaches 33.4%. TG‐FTIR and SEM‐EDX analysis show that the presence of AOPA depresses the thermal degradation and promotes the char formation.