Intumescent Flame Retardant Composites Research Articles

Effect of Modified Intumescent Flame Retardant via Surfactant/Polyacrylate Latex on Properties of Intumescent Flame Retardant ABS Composites

In order to prepare intumescent flame retardant acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) composites with only a small decrease in their mechanical properties, we investigated the effect of adding an elastomeric polyacrylate latex and the surfactant TX-10 phosphate to modify the ammonium polyphosphate, melamine, and calcium 3-hydroxy-2, 2-bis(hydroxymethyl) propyl phosphate normally used, which resulted in an intumescent flame retardant composite (IFRC) powder with the aim of improving compatibility. These ABS/IFRC composites were compared with standard material containing unmodified intumescent flame retardant (NIFR) by investigating their thermal properties, melt characteristics, mechanical properties, and microstructure. The data showed that the glass transition temperature of the ABS/IFRC composites decreased slightly in all cases, the complex viscosity of the ABS/IFRC composites was remarkably reduced, and the mechanical properties improved in comparison with the material containing NIFR. A slight increase in impact strength retention, as well as a remarkable increase in tensile and flexural strength retention of ABS/IFRC, was achieved due to superior compatibility between ABS and IFRC in comparison with ABS/NIFR.

Effect of metallic oxides in polypropylene composites containing melamine phosphate and pentaerythritol

The effect of metallic oxide in the intumescent flame retardant (IFR) polypropylene (PP) composites containing melamine phosphate (MP) and pentaerythritol (PER) is studied. The flammability of the composites was characterised by limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL-94 and cone calorimeter tests. It is found that, in the case of the IFR composites containing metallic oxides, all of them have higher LOI values than the composites without them, and composites with 1% zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) or 1% dichromium trioxide (Cr2O3) can achieve the V-0 rating. The cone calorimeter results show that the composite containing 1%Cr2O3 has a lower heat release rate than the IFR composite, and the incorporation of titanium dioxide (TiO2), lanthanum trioxide (La2O3), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) and Cr2O3, leads to a major decrease in the peak CO emission. Scanning electron microscopy reveals that the surface of the intumescent char is strongly modified in the presence of the metallic oxide. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the composites and the intumescent chars are studied.