Thermal behaviour of covalently bonded phosphate and phosphonate flame retardant polystyrene systems

Pyrolyses of the reactively flame retarded polystyrene copolymers styrene/diethyl(acryloyloxyethyl)phosphate(S/DEAEP), styrene/diethyl(methacryloyloxyethyl)phosphate(S/DEMEP), styrene/diethyl(methacryloyloxymethyl)phosphonate(S/DEMMP) and styrene/diethyl(acryloyloxymethyl)phosphonate(S/DEAMP) have been investigated with a view to obtaining information pertinent to the mechanism of their flame retardant behaviour. Studies were also carried out on the additive polystyrene systems containing triethylphosphate (TEP) and diethylethylphosphonate (DEEP) for comparison. All the systems contained 3.5 wt% of phosphorus. A range of techniques were used, namely TG with EGA, DSC, SEM, laser and microfurnace pyrolysis mass spectrometry and isothermal pyrolysis/GC-MS, to study the decompositions under a range of conditions. In the case of the additive systems, the additive was shown to be evolved before polymer decomposition occurred. Very little, if any, char residues were observed. Thus the main mechanism of fire retardant action of the phosphorus incorporated into the polystyrene as an additive would occur in the vapour phase. This mechanism prevailed regardless of whether the additive was a phosphate (TEP) or a phosphonate (DEEP). The effectiveness of the fire retardant action would be limited as the fire retardant and fuel did not volatilise together. There was evidence that some interaction occurred in the condensed phase. In all the copolymers the phosphorus content of the char was substantial. This is characteristic of the condensed phase fire retardant action of phosphorus. SEM studies showed the interior of the char to be a network of channels which would give the char a sponge-like interior which would enhance thermal insulation. The surfaces were relatively dense thus providing a barrier to escape for any gaseous products formed in the interior. Char formation and cross-linking are assumed to be the result of the presence of the strong phosphoric and phosphonic acids resulting from initial pyrolysis. Since phosphonic is the weaker acid, the polymer degradation and release of volatile products may be less inhibited in the case of the phosphonate-containing copolymers compared to the phosphate-containing copolymers. This is consistent with their shorter times to ignition. There was also evidence for some potential phosphorus vapour phase fire retardant action as phosphorus-containing species were identified among the pyrolysis products for all samples. The rate of volatile evolution from the copolymers was reduced compared to that of the corresponding additive system.     

The study of mechanical behavior and flame retardancy of castor oil phosphate-based rigid polyurethane foam composites containing expanded graphite and triethyl phosphate

The goal of this work was the synthesis of novel flame-retarded polyurethane rigid foam with a high percentage of castor oil phosphate flame-retarded polyol (COFPL) derived from renewable castor oil. Rigid flame-retarded polyurethane foams (PUFs) filled with expandable graphite (EG) and diethyl phosphate (TEP) were fabricated by cast molding. Castor oil phosphate flame-retarded polyol was derived by glycerolysis castor oil (GCO), H₂O₂, diethyl phosphate and catalyst via a three-step synthesis. Mechanical property, morphological characterization, limiting oxygen index (LOI) and thermostability analysis of PUFs were assessed by universal tester, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), oxygen index testing apparatus, cone calorimeter and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It has been shown that although the content of P element is only about 3%, the fire retardant incorporated in the castor oil molecule chain increased thermal stability and LOI value of polyurethane foam can reach to 24.3% without any other flame retardant. An increase in flame retardant was accompanied by an increase in EG, TEP and the cooperation of the two. Polyurethane foams synthesized from castor oil phosphate flame-retarded polyol showed higher flame retardancy than that synthesized from GCO. The EG, in addition to the castor oil phosphate, provided excellent flame retardancy. This castor oil phosphate flame-retarded polyol with diethyl phosphate as plasticizer avoided foam destroy by EG, thus improving the mechanical properties. The flame retardancy determined with two different flame-retarded systems COFPL/EG and EG/COFPL/TEP flame-retarded systems revealed increased flame retardancy in polyurethane foams, indicating EG/COFPL or EG/COFPL/TEP systems have a synergistic effect as a common flame retardant in castor oil-based PUFs. This EG/COFPL PUF exhibited a large reduction of peak of heat release rate (PHRR) compared to EG/GCO PUF. The SEM results showed that the incorporation of COFPL and EG allowed the formation of a cohesive and dense char layer, which inhibited the transfer of heat and combustible gas and thus increased the thermal stability of PUF. The enhancement in flame retardancy will expand the application range of COFPL-based polyurethane foam materials.     

The comparison of differences in flammability and thermal degradation between cotton fabrics treated with phosphoramidate derivatives

The effectiveness of a phosphoramidate tetraethyl piperazine‐1,4‐diyldiphosphoramidate (TEPP) as a flame retardant on cotton twill fabrics was compared with that of a previously studied diethyl 4‐methylpiperazin‐1‐ylphosphoramidate (DEPP). TEPP was formed in a reaction between two phosphonates and a piperazine then cotton twill fabrics were treated with TEPP at different levels of add‐on (2–19 wt%) and characterized using vertical flammability, limiting oxygen index, microscale combustion calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis methods. The results showed better flame retardancy and thermal behavior for TEPP fabrics when compared with DEPP fabrics. When the morphological structure of the formed char from the burned areas was examined by scanning electron microscopy, the results revealed a fairly insignificant difference in the mode of action between the two types of fabric. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential thermal analysis of polyester/cotton blends treated with Thpc—urea—poly(vinyl bromide)

Differential thermal analyses (DTA) were made on a series of polyester/cotton blend fabrics before and after treatment with Thpc—urea—poly(vinyl bromide). This flame retardant did not affect the polyester melting endotherm, which was proportional to the polyester content and appeared at approximately 250°C. In nitrogen atmosphere, DTA of the treated blends showed exothermic peaks at 285°C for the cotton decomposition. and at 415°C for the polyester decomposition. In air, DTA of the treated blends showed exothermic peaks at 333°C for cellulose decomposition, at 431°C for polyester decomposition and at 490°C for char decomposition. The Thpc-urea component of the flame retardant is effective on the cotton cellulose portion of the blend; the poly(vinyl bromide) appears to decompose and act in the vapor state on the polyester.     

Thermal stabilities and flame retardancies of nitrogen-phosphorus flame retardants based on bisphosphoramidates

Various nitrogen-phosphorus (P-N) compounds based on phosphoramidate were synthesized as model compounds to investigate the relationships among the chemical structure of linker connecting diphenylphoryl groups between the phosphoramidates, the N content, thermal stability, and flame-retarding ability. The flame-retarding efficiencies were evaluated by the limiting oxygen index (LOI) and UL-94 vertical test methods. It was found that bisphosphoramidates are more thermally stable and produce more charred residues when compared to the corresponding bisphosphate compounds. Aromatic phosphoramidates show fairly good flame retardancy for PC and UL-94 V-0 ratings are achieved with addition of as small amount as 3-5 wt%. However, no rating is found for ABS at 30 wt% loading of bisphosphoramidate FRs which leave the remarkably high residues at 600 °C. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicate that these compounds work in condensed phase rather than in gas phase. The effect of chemical structure of linker on the flame retardancy is also discussed.     

Effect of urea additive on the thermal decomposition of greige cotton nonwoven fabric treated with diammonium phosphate

This study showed that greige cotton nonwoven fabric can effectively be flame retardant by applying the phosphorus of diammonium phosphate (DAP) as low as 0.8 wt% with the addition of urea. At such a low content of phosphorus, the char length and limiting oxygen index (LOI) were continuously decreased and increased, respectively, as the concentration of urea increased. The effect of urea additive on the thermal decomposition of flame retardant greige cotton nonwoven fabric was investigated by thermogravimetry, ATR-FTIR, XRD, ¹H → ¹³C CP/MAS NMR, and SEM. The results indicated that, upon heating, urea not only facilitated the phosphorylation reaction of DAP but also introduced carbamate groups into cellulose to decrease the degree of crystallinity prior to the decomposition of the crystalline cellulose. Compared with DAP treatment alone, the addition of urea accelerated the decomposition of glycosyl units, which resulted in a slight increase of weight loss and decrease of char yield. The char morphology observed after LOI tests indicates that urea released nonflammable gases, which blew the carboneous char layer to protect the underlying substrate.     

Effect of phosphorus flame retardants on thermo-oxidative decomposition of cotton

The effect of six organophosphorus compounds, including Pyrovatex CP (PCP), diammonium phosphate (DAP), phosphoric acid (PA), tributyl phosphate (TBP), triallyl phosphate (TAP) and triallyl phosphoric triamide (TPT) on the flame retardancy of cotton cellulose was studied. PCP, PA, and DAP are more efficient compared with the other three compounds in improving the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of cotton. The effectiveness of these compounds was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of char formed after LOI tests, char content, activation energy of decomposition and heat of combustion data. SEM images showed that DAP, PCP and PA chars maintain the surface morphology during the burning process, which might be due to the formation of a protective layer or crosslinking effect. PA, PCP, and DAP treated fabrics have a higher activation energy of decomposition, higher char content and lower heat of combustion.     

Novel high phosphorus content phosphaphenanthrene-based efficient flame retardant additives for lithium-ion battery

The novel phosphate derivatives of phosphaphenanthrene with high-density phosphorus were synthesized and used as flame retardant additives for Li-ion batteries. The structures of compounds were characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ³¹P NMR, FT-IR, and HR-MS. The excellent thermal stability of compounds was ascertained by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The compounds were added to conventional electrolytes as flame retardant additives and evaluated their ionic conductivity, electrochemical stability, self-extinguishing properties, and combustion performance. The results showed that the compound containing higher phosphorus content has efficient flame retardant properties.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel phosphorus–nitrogen‐containing flame retardant and its application for textile

The economic and environmentally friendly flame‐retardant compound, tetramethyl (6‐chloro‐1,3,5‐triazine‐2,4‐diyl)bis(oxy)bis(methylene) diphosphonate ( CN‐1 ), was synthesized by a simple two‐step procedure from dimethyl phosphate, and its chemical structure was characterized by ¹H, ¹³C, and ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance and gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. Using the traditional pad–dry–cure method, we obtained several different add‐ons (wt%) by treating cotton twill fabric with flame retardant ( CN‐1 ). Thermogravimetric analysis, in an air and nitrogen atmosphere, of the modified cotton showed that decomposition occurred ~230°C with 16% residue weight char yield at 600°C, indicating high thermal stability for all treated levels. Limiting oxygen index (LOI) and the vertical flammability test were employed to determine the effectiveness of the flame‐retardant treatments on the fabrics. LOI values increased from ~18 vol% oxygen in nitrogen for untreated fabric to maximum of 34 vol% for the highest treatment level. Fabrics with higher levels of flame retardant also easily passed the vertical flammability test. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy were utilized to characterize the chemical structure as well as the surface morphology of the flame‐retardant treated twill fabrics, including char area and the edge between unburned fabric and char area. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Atmospheric chemistry of diethyl methylphosphonate, diethyl ethylphosphonate, and triethyl phosphate

Rate constants for the reactions of OH radicals and NO(3) radicals with diethyl methylphosphonate [DEMP, (C(2)H(5)O)(2)P(O)CH(3)], diethyl ethylphosphonate [DEEP, (C(2)H(5)O)(2)P(O)C(2)H(5)], and triethyl phosphate [TEP, (C(2)H(5)O)(3)PO] have been measured at 296 +/- 2 K and atmospheric pressure of air using relative rate methods. The rate constants obtained for the OH radical reactions (in units of 10(-11) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)) were as follows: DEMP, 5.78 +/- 0.24; DEEP, 6.45 +/- 0.27; and TEP, 5.44 +/- 0.20. The rate constants obtained for the NO(3) radical reactions (in units of 10(-16) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1)) were the following: DEMP, 3.7 +/- 1.1; DEEP, 3.4 +/- 1.4; and TEP, 2.4 +/- 1.4. For the reactions of O(3) with DEMP, DEEP, and TEP, an upper limit to the rate constant of <6 x 10(-20) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) was determined for each compound. Products of the reactions of OH radicals with DEMP, DEEP, and TEP were investigated using in situ atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry (API-MS) and, for the TEP reaction, gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and in situ Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The API-MS analyses show that the reactions are analogous, with formation of one major product from each reaction: C(2)H(5)OP(O)(OH)CH(3) from DEMP, C(2)H(5)OP(O)(OH)C(2)H(5) from DEEP, and (C(2)H(5)O)(2)P(O)OH from TEP. The FT-IR and GC-FID analyses showed that the major products (and their molar yields) from the TEP reaction are (C(2)H(5)O)(2)P(O)OH (65-82%, initial), CO(2) (80 +/- 10%), and HCHO (55 +/- 5%), together with lesser yields of CH(3)CHO (11 +/- 2%), CO (11 +/- 3%), CH(3)C(O)OONO(2) (8%), organic nitrates (7%), and acetates (4%). The probable reaction mechanisms are discussed.     

The effect of phosphorus content on the thermal and the burning properties of cotton fabric coated with an ultrathin film of a phosphorus-containing polymer

The effect of phosphorus content on thermal degradation and burning behavior of poly(acryloyloxyethyl diethyl phosphate) or PADEP-coated cotton was studied. The results showed that PADEP-coated cotton prepared by admicellar polymerization using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) as a surfactant has higher amounts of phosphorus than that prepared using dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). Higher phosphorus content led to lower decomposition temperatures and greater amounts of char formation after thermal degradation. The effectiveness of the amount of phosphorus on the burning behavior of the treated cotton was investigated by an ASTM flammabilty test. In the case of PADEP-coated cotton prepared with DTAB, the flame spread slowly and extinguished with char formation on the fabric. For untreated cotton however, the flame spread quickly and burned the fabric entirely without char formation. Cotton coated with PADEP using HTAB exhibited self-extinguishing behavior after removing the ignition source. Decrease in decomposition temperature, increase in char formation and the burning behavior of PADEP-coated cotton are all consistent with phosphorus content on the treated fabric.     

Effect of nitrogen additives on flame retardant action of tributyl phosphate: Phosphorus-nitrogen synergism

The effects of three nitrogen additives (urea, guanidine carbonate, and melamine formaldehyde) on the flame retardant action of cotton cellulose treated with tributyl phosphate (TBP) were investigated in this research. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) of treated cotton cellulose clearly revealed the synergistic interactions of TBP and nitrogen compounds. The Kissinger method was used to evaluate the kinetics of thermal decomposition on treated cellulose. The results show that adding nitrogen additives increases the activation energy at a higher degree of degradation, thus indicating better thermal stability at higher temperatures. Scanning electron microscope pictures of chars formed after a LOI test show the formation of protective polymeric coatings on char surfaces. Evaluating char surfaces using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggests that these coatings are composed of species containing phosphorus-nitrogen-oxygen. Possible chemical interactions of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds during the burning process and the formation of a protective coating could be the reason for the observed synergism. Potential reaction pathways contributing to the formation of this protective polymeric coating have also been proposed.     

The potential of ferric pyrophosphate for influencing the thermal degradation of cotton fabrics

Ferric pyrophosphate (FePP) was used as additive to study its synergistic effect of thermal degradation on cotton fabrics. The microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), Raman spectroscopy and Real Time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (RT-FTIR) were utilized to evaluate the synergistic effects of FePP on cotton/DIA. The MCC results revealed that cotton/DIA/FePP generated less combustion heat during heating than that of cotton/DIA. TG results showed that presence of FePP improved the thermal stability of materials. The Raman spectroscopy test showed that FePP can ameliorate the structural organization level of the carbon and the graphitization degree of the char. RT-FTIR data revealed the mechanism of the influence of FePP, which can catalyze the break of the flame retardant as well as promote the char forming.     

Influence of phosphorus valency on thermal behaviour of flame retarded polyurethane foams

This paper reports decomposition/pyrolysis studies of polyurethane (PU) rigid foams containing phosphinate, phosphonate or phosphate as flame retardant in order to study the effect of phosphorus oxidation state on their gas and/or solid phase action. The flame retardants analyzed were aluminium phosphinate (IPA), dimethylpropanphosphonate (DMPP), triethylphosphate (TEP) and ammonium polyphosphate (APP), which differ in oxidation state and/or decomposition temperature. Gases evolved during TGA analyses as well as solid residues have been studied by means of MS and FTIR.The results show that phosphorus flame retardants which significantly lose weight at temperatures lower than those of neat PU foams act in the gas phase irrespective of their valency: indeed, they are completely volatilized before polymer decomposition starts and thus no interaction between flame retardant and polymer can be expected. The effect of phosphorus oxidation state becomes important when flame retardant decomposition takes place in the same temperatures range as neat polymer. In this case, it seems that at lower P oxidation state (+1) a combined gas and solid phase action takes place while at higher P oxidation state (+5) only solid phase action was observed.     

Applications of micro-scale combustion calorimetry to the studies of cotton and nylon fabrics treated with organophosphorus flame retardants

Effective testing methods are critical for developing new flame retardant textiles by the industry. However, the current testing methods all have limitations. In this research, we applied micro-scale combustion calorimetry (MCC) for evaluating the flammability of the cotton woven fabric treated with a traditional reactive organophosphorus flame retardant in combination with a synergistic nitrogen-containing additive and the nylon-6,6 woven fabric treated with a hydroxyl-functional organophosphorus oligomer and crosslinkers. We found that MCC is capable of differentiating small differences among the treated fabric samples with similar flammability. MCC is able to make quantitative measurement of the peak heat release rate, the most important parameter related to fire hazard of materials, of textile whereas such analysis is more difficult using cone calorimetry due to textile fabrics’ low thickness. By using the thermal combustion parameters measured by MCC, we were able to calculate the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of various treated cotton fabric samples with near-perfect agreement between the experimentally measured and the predicted LOI values of treated cotton fabrics. We also compared the capability of MCC and differential scanning calorimetry for analyzing flame retardant cotton textiles.     

Self-extinguishing cotton fabric with minimal phosphorus deposition

The phosphorus-containing acrylate monomer, 2-acryloyloxyethyl diethyl phosphate (ADEP), was synthesized and applied to cotton fabric by using the admicellar polymerization technique. A cationic surfactant (cetylpyridinium chloride, CPC) was used as the surfactant for admicellar polymerization. Results from FTIR-ATR and SEM showed that PADEP polymer film was successfully formed on the cotton fabric surface. TGA and DTG analyses showed that the phosphorus-containing PADEP lowered the decomposition temperature of the treated fabric resulting in a higher char yield than in the case of untreated cotton. The flammability tests showed that PADEP-coated cotton with the phosphorus content 4.18 mg/g cotton was self-extinguishing, with the flame extinguishing right after the removal of the ignition source leaving a small area of char formation.     

High resistance to thermal decomposition in brown cotton is linked to tannins and sodium content

Brown cotton fibers (SA-1 and MC-BL) studied were inferior to a white cotton fiber (Sure-Grow 747) in fiber quality, i.e., a shorter length, fewer twists, and lower crystallinity, but showed superior thermal resistance in thermogravimetric, differential thermogravimetric, and microscale combustion calorimetric (MCC) analyses. Brown cotton fibers yielded 11–23 % smaller total heat release and 20–40 % greater char. Washing fibers in water and a 1 % NaOH solution showed that rich natural inorganic components and the condensed tannins present in brown cotton are responsible for the unusual thermal property. The loss of inorganics from white cotton during a water wash increased the thermal decomposition temperature of cellulose, resulting in no char yield. However, the stronger binding of metal ions for brown cotton as well as its dominant adsorption of sodium ions after a 1 % NaOH wash facilitated the low-temperature thermal-reaction route; the sodium content showed a significant negative correlation with the heat release capacity of the fiber. Condensed tannins greatly enhanced the adsorption of sodium ions to the fiber and exhibited inherent thermal stability. The limiting oxygen indices (LOI) calculated from the MCC parameters indicated the slower burning characteristic of brown cotton, and its LOI was further increased upon adsorption of sodium ions.     

Thermal degradation behavior of hyperbranched polyphosphate acrylate/tri(acryloyloxyethyl) phosphate as an intumescent flame retardant system

The hyperbranched polyphosphate acrylate (HPPA) was blended in different ratios with tri(acryloyloxyethyl) phosphate (TAEP) to obtain a series of UV curable intumescent flame retardant resins. The thermal degradation mechanism of their cured films in air was studied by thermogravimetric analysis and in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the addition of HPPA reduced the initial decomposition temperature (T_di) but increased the char residue. Moreover, the decomposition was considered to be divided into three stages: firstly the degradation of phosphate group, secondly ester group and finally alkyl chain. The morphological structure of the formed char was observed by scanning electron microscopy, demonstrating the formation mechanism of the intumescent charred crust.     

Synergistic effect of nanoflaky manganese phosphate on thermal degradation and flame retardant properties of intumescent flame retardant polypropylene system

Nanoflaky manganese phosphate (NMP) was synthesized from manganese nitrate and trisodium phosphate dodecahydrate, and used as a synergistic agent on the flame retardancy of polypropylene (PP)/intumescent flame retardant (IFR) system. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), real time Fourier-transform infrared (RTFTIR) spectroscopy measurements, cone calorimeter (CONE) and microscale combustion calorimeter (MCC) were used to evaluate the synergistic effects of NMP on PP/IFR system. When IFR + NMP was fixed at 20 wt% in flame retardant PP system, the TGA tests showed that NMP could enhance the thermal stability of PP/IFR system at initial temperature from about room temperature to 440 °C and effectively increase the char residue formation. The RTFTIR results revealed that NMP could clearly change the decomposition behavior of PP in PP/IFR system, which promotes decomposition at the initial temperature from about room temperature to 260 °C and forms more effective barrier layer to protect PP from decomposing at high temperature from about 260 °C to 500 °C. The CONE tests indicated that the addition of NMP in PP/IFR system not only reduced the peak heat release rate (HRR), but also prolonged the ignition time. The MCC results revealed that PP/IFR/NMP system generated less combustion heat over the course of heating than that of PP/IFR system. And scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to explore the char residues of the PP/IFR systems with and without NMP.     

An amino trimethylene phosphonic acid-based chelated boric acid complex that works as a synergistic flame retardant for enhancing the flame retardancy of cotton fabrics

The chelating ligands of boric acid and amino trimethyl phosphonate prepared a novel flame retardant (BAP) for the cotton fabric. A stable chemical and coordination bond was formed on the surface of the cotton fibers by a simple three-curing finishing process to make the fabric exhibits excellent durable flame retardancy. Cotton fabrics' tensile strength and whiteness got substantially retained after BAP treatment. 90 g/L BAP-treated samples (3 curing times, 50 laundry cycles) showed good flame retardancy and durability, holding the largest limit oxygen index, 29.7%, and the shortest damage length, 61 mm. A condensed phase and gas phase synergistic flame retardant mechanism was concluded by thermogravimetric, cone calorimeter tests, and thermogravimetric infrared analysis.