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The pyrolysis and flame retardancy of a bisphenol A polycarbonate/silicon rubber/bisphenol A bis(diphenyl phosphate) (PC/SiR/BDP) blend were investigated and compared to those of PC/BDP and PC/SiR. The impact modifier SiR consists mainly of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS > 80 wt %). The pyrolysis of PC/SiR/BDP was studied by thermogravimetry (TG), TG–FTIR to analyze the evolved gases, and a Linkam hot stage cell within FTIR as well as 29Si NMR and 31P NMR to analyze the solid residue. The fire performance was determined by PCFC, LOI, UL 94, and a cone calorimeter under different external irradiations. The fire residues were studied by using ATR-FTIR as well as the additional binary systems PC + PDMS, PC + BDP, and BDP + PDMS, focusing on the specific chemical interactions. The decomposition pathways are revealed, focusing on the competing interaction between the components. Fire retardancy in PC/SiR/BDP is caused by both flame inhibition in the gas phase and inorganic-carbonaceous residue formation in the condensed phase. The PC/SiR/BDP does not work as well superimposing the PC/SiR and PC/BDP performances. PDMS reacts with PC and BDP, decreasing BDP’s mode of action. Nevertheless, the flammability (LOI > 37%, UL 94 V-0) of PC/SiR/BDP equals the high level of PC/BDP. Indeed, SiR in PC/SiR/BDP is underlined as a promising impact modifier in flame-retarded PC/impact modifier blends as an alternative to highly flammable impact modifiers such as acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS), taking into account that the chosen SiR leads to PC blends with a similar mechanical performance.

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Solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) has been used for a detailed structural analysis of different amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) samples. For ACP the NMR data reveal the presence of hydrogenphosphate units in much larger quantities as known previously also showing differences between the samples. Furthermore, phosphate units close to water and a third group (yet unknown) are found in the spectra. A novel proposal has been established to explain the Ca-deficiency in nanocrystalline HAp. It consists of a crystalline core of stoichiometric composition which contains only 50% of the total phosphate amount. The residual phosphate is contained in a disordered surface layer with about 1 nm thickness. Most importantly, this surface layer contains hydrogenphosphate groups to a large extend and carbonate units. A Ca/P ratio of 1.52 is obtained from the NMR data which is very close to the value of 1.51 of the chemical analysis. Thus, NMR allows the investigation of the disordered mineral-protein interface and first examples concerning bone and nacre are presented and discussed.