New Intumescent Formulations of Fire-retardant Polypropylene—Discussion of the Free Radical Mechanism of the Formation of Carbonaceous Protective Material During the Thermo-oxidative Treatment of the Additives

Abstract

The study compares five new intumescent additive mixtures and a carbonizing additive system with the ammonium polyphosphate–pentaerythritol system and additive formulations previously developed in laboratory in terms of fire retardancy of polypropylene-based formulations. The mixture of diammonium pyrophosphate and polyols produced by agrochemical industry xylitol and d-sorbitol (carbonization agent) are FR additive mixtures of interest for polyolefins. Moreover, the FR performance of the mixture of ammonium polyphosphate and polyamide-6 is reported. It is proposed that boric acid salts have to be developed as precursors for carbonization catalytic species. A thermal analysis study shows that FR performances and amounts of carbonaceous materials resulting from the thermal degradation of the additive mixtures are not related. An additional compilation of previous spectroscopic studies by the laboratory confirms that the intumescent process results from the formation of polyaromatic species and that FR systems maintain acidic species in a relatively high temperature range. An ESR study discusses the presence of π radicals in the protective coating formed using the additive systems. It provides information on the size of the carbonaceous structures in the materials and the presence of crystalline phases in the coating. Finally, the participation of free radicals in the formation of chemical bonds between the materials produced from the additives and the products of the degradation of the polymer is discussed.