Preparation and Characterization of Ammonium Polyphosphate/Diatomite Composite Fillers and Assessment of their Flame-retardant Effects on Paper

Abstract

Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) was synthesized by heating a mixture of phosphoric acid and urea, and APP/diatomite composite flame-retardant fillers were prepared by two methods: mixing and in situ polymerization. Flame-retardant paper was made by adding the prepared composite fillers to paper. The APP and APP/diatomite composite fillers were characterized by XRD, 31PNMR, SEM, FTIR, and TG. The flame retardation of paper containing these composite fillers was determined. Results showed that the prepared APP had a minimum solubility when the molar ratio of phosphoric acid to urea was 1:1.8. Under these conditions, its degree of polymerization was 91.21. After mixing and in situ polymerization, a large amount of APP was adsorbed into the surface of the diatomite. These two APP/diatomite composite fillers had similar thermal stabilities, but the flame retardation of paper containing in situ polymerized composite filler was better than that of paper containing the composite filler obtained by mixing.