Preparation and characterisation of a novel fire retardant PET/α-zirconium phosphate nanocomposite

Abstract

Abstract:The preparation of a novel fire retardant nanocomposite of poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) by in situ polymerization was investigated. The novel fire retarded PET nanocomposite, PET-co-DDP/α-ZrP nanocomposite, was synthesized by the direct condensation of terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, 9,10-dihydro-10[2,3-di(hydroxycarbonyl)propyl]-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide and nano α-ZrP. The morphology，thermal stability and burning behaviour of the nanocomposite with 1 wt-% α-ZrP loadings were investigated. The extent of dispersion of the nanofillers was quantified by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.Significant improvements in fire retardant performance were observed for the nanocomposite from limiting oxygen index (increased from 21.2 to 32.6), UL-94 (achieving V-0), and cone calorimetry (reducing both the heat release rate and the total heat released, without reducing the time to ignition).

A brief review on α-zirconium phosphate intercalation compounds and nano-composites

“…Recently, research interests in the α-ZrPO 3 based polymeric nano-composites are growing, because the chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties of nano-composites can be significantly improved by introducing -ZrPO 3 in the polymeric interface as nanofillers [21,35,36]. Accordingly, several experimental methods have been developed to synthesize polymer/-ZrPO 3 inorganic nano-composites, including exfoliation-adsorption, in-situ intercalative polymerization, melt intercalation and template synthesis [37][38][39][40].…”

“…Accordingly, several experimental methods have been developed to synthesize polymer/-ZrPO 3 inorganic nano-composites, including exfoliation-adsorption, in-situ intercalative polymerization, melt intercalation and template synthesis [37][38][39][40]. There have been several experimental investigations on polymer/-ZrPO 3 nano-composites including poly (ethylene terephthalate)(PET)/-ZrPO 3 [41], epoxy/-ZrPO 3 [42][43][44][45], polyacrylamide (PAM)/-ZrPO 3 [46,47], poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/-ZrPO 3 [48][49][50][51][52][53], and starch/-ZrPO 3 [54,55]. These nano-composites will be reviewed in detail in the following paragraphs and the combustion and mechanical properties of some nano-composites are listed in Tables 1 and 2.…”

“…Considering the thermal and chemical stability of -ZrPO 3 [56], the PET/-ZrPO 3 nano-composite may improve the fire retardant performance. A novel fire retardant nano-composite of PET/-ZrPO 3 by in-situ polymerisation was obtained by Wang [41].…”

“…SOL-GEL method was also adopted by Sun and Xu to produce low crystallinity -ZrPO 3 [14] and -ZrPO 3 nanoplatelets [15], respectively. -ZrPO 3 can also be synthesized by using the hydrothermal method [16][17][18] and the direct precipitation reaction method (DPRM) [19][20][21][22]. The largest size and the highest sheet orderliness of -ZrPO 3 can be achieved by using DPRM, while the sample prepared by SOL-GEL method has the smallest size and the lowest sheet orderliness [23].…”

Influence of morphology and compatibilizer on burning behavior of PET/HDPE blend

“…Polymer blends are widely used in automotive-, construction-, and electronic industry, where burning behavior can be a main criterion of application [4]. Nevertheless, plastics are easily flammable, which implies, it is important to enhance the fire resistance by using flame retardant [5,6] and nanofillers [7,8], or control the forming morphology in order to maximize the performance [1,9]. It should be mentioned that despite our extensive research, we did not find any papers which have examined the effects of compatibilizers on fire behavior of polymer blends.…”