Synthesis of MgAl-LDH from three alkali sources for boosting flame retardancy of EP with APP

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Epoxy resin (EP) is used in construction materials due to its low curing shrinkage, excellent chemical stability, and mechanical properties. However, its flammability limits applications in the field of construction. Co-precipitation method with sodium hydroxide as the alkali source and hydrothermal method with urea as the alkali source are the common ways to prepare MgAl-LDH. In this study, MgAl-LDH1 (abbreviated as LDH1) was prepared by using NaOH as the alkali source at 65 ℃ for 12 h, MgAl-LDH2 (abbreviated as LDH2) by using urea as the alkali source at 120 ℃ for 12 h, and MgAl-LDH3 (abbreviated as LDH3) was prepared by using triethanolamine as the alkali source at 100 ℃ for 2 h. Then, LDH1, LDH2, LDH3 were compounded with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) to synergistically enhance the flame retardant properties of EP (Composite material abbreviated as LDH1-APP-EP, LDH2-APP-EP, LDH3-APP-EP). The results showed that the best flame retardant effect was achieved after compounding APP (5 wt%) with LDH3 (5 wt%) prepared with triethanolamine as the alkali source. Compared with Pure-EP, the peak exothermic rate and peak smoke production rate of LDH3-APP-EP prepared with triethanolamine as the alkali source decreased by 74.54 % and 67.44 %, respectively. Compared with LDH prepared with NaOH and urea as the alkali source, LDH prepared with triethanolamine as the alkali source has a larger layer spacing and a higher weight loss percentage which releases more gases, moisture, and carbon layers formed by triethanolamine during the combustion process to reduce the heat release from the fire. It’s evident that LDH3-APP-EP prepared with triethanolamine as the alkali source has higher residual carbon densities and the lowest residual carbon values based on SEM and Raman test results. This result proves that the LDH3 with triethanolamine as the alkali source has a good effect on EP flame retardation in this paper which provided a new way to design new efficient flame retardants.