Intrinsic flame-retardant vinyl ester resin and its fiberglass-reinforced composite with excellent comprehensive properties by structural design

Abstract

High-performance polymers and composites with excellent flame retardancy, smoke suppression, and mechanical properties arouse interest in academia and industry. In this work, the intrinsic flame-retardant vinyl ester resin (OPBMAR) and its composite (GFOPBMAR) with a Schiff-base moiety was prepared by structural design. Bisphenol A vinyl ester resin (VER901) and its composite (GFVER901) were also fabricated as a control. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of OPBMAR is 190 °C, much higher than that of VER901 (127 °C). In cone calorimetry tests, the peak of heat release rate (p-HRR), peak of smoke production rate (p-SPR), total heat release (THR), and total smoke production (TSP) of OPBMAR were found to be 39.3 %, 62.2 %, 32.0 %, and 72.4 % respectively, lower than those of the control. OPBMAR shows good wettability to fiberglass, resulting in greatly improved comprehensive performance of GFOPBMAR. The flexural strength of GFOPBMAR is 741 MPa, far higher than that of GFVER901 (511 MPa). Limiting oxygen index (LOI) tests yielded a value of 39 % for GFOPBMAR, higher than that for GFVER901 (27 %). Further cone calorimetry tests showed the p-HRR, p-SPR, THR, and TSP of GFOPBMAR to be 36.7 %, 52.9 %, 23 %, and 65.4 % lower, respectively, than those of GFVER901. Thus, an intrinsic flame-retardant vinyl ester resin and its composite with excellent comprehensive properties have been produced through structural design, which is a promising substitute for petroleum-based vinyl ester resin in fire-resistant and low-smoke applications.