D. D. Yang, Y. Hu, H. T. Li, J. R. Wang, L. Song, H. P. Xu, J. R. Chen and Z. W. Lu (2015) Flammability and carbonization of high-impact polystyrene/alpha-zirconium phosphate nanocomposites. Journal/Iranian Polymer Journal 24 1069-1075. [In English]
Web link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13726-015-0394-4
Keywords: High-impact polystyrene; Alpha-zirconium phosphate; Nanocomposites; Combustion behaviors; High crystallization; THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION; ION-EXCHANGE; COMPOSITES; BEHAVIOR; MICROSTRUCTURE; PERFORMANCE; STABILITY; HYDROXIDE
Abstract: High-impact polystyrene (HIPS)/organophilic alpha-zirconium phosphate (organophilic alpha-ZrP, OZrP) nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending method. The XRD and high-resolution transmission electronic microscopy results showed that an intercalated/exfoliated structure of nanocomposites was formed. The thermal degradation behaviors indicated that the HIPS/OZrP nanocomposites displayed similar thermo-oxidative stability with that of HIPS, and alpha-ZrP could promote the formation of char residue of the nanocomposites. The combustion behaviors revealed that the addition of alpha-ZrP could reduce the value of peak heat release rate (HRR) and mass loss rate (MLR) of the nanocomposites. The peak HRR value of HIPS/OZrP nanocomposites with 3 wt% OZrP was 17 % lower than that of pure HIPS. The trends of MLR were the same as those of the HRR, which indicated that the mechanism of the observed reduction both in HRR and MLR by addition of the layered phosphate depended mainly on the condensed phase flame-retardant process instead of the gas phase flame-retardant process. It could be observed that HIPS left no residues after burning, whereas the HIPS/OZrP nanocomposites left the consistent and compact charresidues. Moreover, graphite sheets and carbon nanotubes were observed in the char residues of nanocomposites. The experimental results suggested that polymers would have improved fire performance with the high crystallization of char residue in the presence of alpha-ZrP.