Lu HD, Wilkie CA (2010a) Study on intumescent flame retarded polystyrene composites with improved flame retardancy. Polymer Degradation and Stability 95(12), 2388-2395. [In English]

Web link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.08.022

Keywords:

Polystyrene, Intumescent flame retardant, Cone calorimetry, Microscale, combustion calorimetry, alpha-zirconium phosphate, layered silicate nanocomposites, polypropylene nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes, fire retardancy, flammability, synergism, calorimetry, morphology, catalysis

Abstract: The flame retardancy and thermal stability of ammonium polyphosphate/tripentaerythritol (APP/TPE) intumescent flame retarded polystyrene composites (PS/IFR) combined with organically-modified layered inorganic materials (montmorillonite clay and zirconium phosphate), nanofiber (multiwall carbon nanotubs), nanoparticle (Fe(2)O(3)) and nickel catalyst were evaluated by cone calorimetry, microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Cone calorimetry revealed that a small substitution of IFR by most of these fillers (<,= 2%) imparted substantial improvement in flammability performance. The montmorillonite clay exhibited the highest efficiency in reducing the peak heat release rate of PS/IFR composite, while zirconium phosphate modified with C(21)H(26)NClO(3)S exhibited a negative effect. The yield and thermal stability of the char obtained from TGA correlated well with the reduction in the peak heat release rate in the cone calorimeter. Since intumesence is a condensed-phase flame process, the MCC results showed features different from those obtained from the cone calorimeter. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.