Abstract
A novel flame retardant, zinc hydroxystannate-decorated graphene oxide (ZHS/GO) nanohybrid, was successfully prepared and well characterized. Herein, the ZHS nanoparticles could not only enhance the flame retardancy of GO with the synergistic flame-retardant effect of ZHS but also prevent the restack of GO to improve the mechanical properties of poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix. The structure characterization showed ZHS nanoparticles were bonded onto the surface of GO nanosheets and the ZHS nanoparticles were well distributed on the surface of GO. Subsequently, resulting ZHS/GO was introduced into flexible PVC and fire hazards and mechanical properties of PVC nanocomposites were investigated. Compared to neat PVC, thermogravimetric analysis exhibited that the addition of ZHS/GO into PVC matrix led to an improvement of the charring amount and thermal stability of char residue. Moreover, the incorporation of 5 wt.% ZHS/GO imparted excellent flame retardancy to flexible PVC, as shown by increased limiting oxygen index, reduced peak heat release rate, and total heat release tested by an oxygen index meter and a cone calorimeter, respectively. In addition, the addition of ZHS/GO nanohybrids decreased the smoke products and increased the tensile strength of PVC. Above-excellent flame-retardant properties are generally attributed to the synergistic effect of GO and ZHS, containing good dispersion of ZHS/GO in PVC matrix, the physical barrier of GO, and the catalytic char function of ZHS.
Highlights
Graphene (GR) and graphene oxide (GO) are widely used in fabricating advanced composites to provide elevated mechanical performance, excellent electrical properties, etc, due to their outstanding physiochemical properties [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Combined with the X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD) results of zinc hydroxystannate-decorated graphene oxide (ZHS/GO) nanocomposites, this further proves that zinc hydroxystannate (ZHS) nanoparticles may be bonded onto the surface of GO
The results indicate that ZHS/GO imparts a good flame retardancy on PVC at low filler loadings which are probably due to the shielding effect of GO and the catalyzing charring effect of ZHS (Fig. 9 and Table 2)
Summary
Graphene (GR) and graphene oxide (GO) are widely used in fabricating advanced composites to provide elevated mechanical performance, excellent electrical properties, etc, due to their outstanding physiochemical properties [1,2,3,4,5,6]. A combination of two or more components can sometimes present a synergistic effect and may impart an excellent flame retardancy to polymers [11]. The addition of Ce-MnO2GR hybrid sheets can impart excellent flame-retardant. A synergistic effect has been observed between ZnS and GR in epoxy resin [12]. The synergistic effects of Ni-Fe-layered double hydroxide/GR hybrids appear in epoxy resin [13]. Surface modification of GR with layered molybdenum disulfide depicts a synergistic reinforcement on reducing fire hazards of epoxy resins [14]. The abovementioned modifiers, Ce-MnO2, ZnS, Ni-Fe-layered double hydroxide, and MoS2, could inhibit the aggregation of GR and improve the dispersion of GR in polymer matrix, resulting in improved mechanical properties of polymer matrix
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