Flexible polyurethane foams are widely used in many industrial applications, such as upholstered furniture and mattresses, automotive applications, etc. The chemical nature of the polyurethane, the low density, the high air permeability, and the open cell structure cause this material to be highly flammable. In this study, the influencing variables on the burning behavior of flexible polyurethane foams are investigated. Additionally the synthesis, formulation, characterization, and testing of a new phosphorus flame retardant (FR) methyl-DOPO 9,10-dihydro-9oxa-methylphosphaphenthrene-10-oxide in flexible polyurethane foam with low density is performed. The new FR shows an excellent flame retarding behavior by acting mainly in the gas phase. Here the vaporization of methyl-DOPO occurs in the same temperature region as the depolymerization of the urethane and the bisubstituted urea groups during pyrolysis of the foam. Furthermore TG-MS measurements revealed the release of high concentrations of low molecular weight species like HPO, CH 3 PO, or PO 2 in the mentioned temperature region. These species are able to scavenge the H-and OH-radicals in the radical chain reactions of the flame leading to a significant increase of the CO/CO 2 ratio during cone calorimeter experiments.
Flexible polyurethane (PU) foams are widely used in many industrial applications, such as upholstered furniture and mattresses, automotive applications, etc. The chemical nature of the PU, the high air permeability, and the high inner surface area of the foam structure cause this material to be highly flammable. Consequently, the application of flame retardants to flexible PU foams is an important issue. The use of halogenated flame retardants is not considered optimal, in part due to the high emission level and the possible phase-out by the European Risk Assessment Body. Consequently, melamine as a nonhalogenated flame retardant is applied more and more frequently. However, little data is available regarding the application of melamine as an additive in flexible PU. This paper is concerned with the influence of melamine on the synthesis of the PU foam and the resulting material-specific properties. Especially, the increase of viscosity and the high heat capacity of melamine lead to a decrease in foaming growth and rising height with increasing melamine content. This is caused by the reduced drainage rate between the struts and the plateau borders in the foam-forming process. Here, the increase in viscosity follows the Dougherty—Krieger equation with the intrinsic viscosity of k = 3.3. The mechanical properties such as density and compression strength increase with increasing melamine content. Other properties like tensile strength and elongation decrease because of the embedding of the melamine in the PU matrix, which weakens the structure. The air permeation and number of cells also decreases because of the thickened struts caused by the reduced drainage rate in the foaming process. Furthermore, the reaction between the amino groups of melamine and the isocyanate of the PU formulation was investigated by FTIR.
Coatings with vertical gradients in composition were produced by drying an aqueous polymer dispersion containing both charged and neutral particles. After drying, the neutral component was enriched at the film/air interface. The spontaneous vertical segregation between the two types of particles goes back to a difference in collective diffusivity. As the film dries, a layer enriched in polymer develops at the top. Due to their mutual repulsion, charged spheres escape from this layer more quickly than their neutral counterparts. Provided that the total time of drying is between the times of diffusion for the two types of particles (approximately H(0)(2)/D(c) with H(0) the initial film thickness and D(c) the collective diffusivity of the respective species), a concentration gradient persists after the film has turned dry. This effect can be used to create a functionally graded material (FGM) in a single coating step.
The chemical nature of flexible polyurethane (flex PU) foams, the low density, the high air permeability and the open cell structure cause this material to be highly flammable. The new phosphorus flame-retardant (FR) methyl-DOPO (9, 10-dihydro-9-oxa-methylphosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide) is known to show an excellent flame retarding behavior in flex PU foam by acting mainly in the gas phase. In this study, the FR working mechanism of methyl-DOPO and its ring-opened analogue MPPP (methylphenoxyphenyl-phosphinate) is investigated by TGA, TG-MS, FMVSS 302 and Cone Calorimeter measurements. Under TG-MS conditions comparable concentrations of low molecular weight species such as HPO, mathrmCH 3PO or PO 2 are released. These species are able to scavenge the H- and OH-radicals in the radical chain reactions of the flame leading to a significant increase in the CO/CO 2 ratio and the smoke density during cone calorimeter experiments. Finally, the flame retardancy of MPPP is determined to be less efficient in flex PU foam because of the higher vapor pressure compared with methyl-DOPO. Here, the vaporization of methyl-DOPO occurs in the same temperature region as the depolymerization of the urethane and the bisubstituted urea groups during pyrolysis of the foam leading to an optimal interaction
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