Vanillin‐derived phosphorus‐containing compounds and ammonium polyphosphate as green fire‐resistant systems for epoxy resins with balanced properties

Flame retardants from vanillin when utilized together with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) yield excellent synergistic flame retardancy toward epoxy resins. Bisphenol A epoxy resins have been widely used due to their excellent mechanical properties, chemical resistance, electrical properties, adhesion, etc., while they are flammable. Environment‐friendly and bio‐based flame retardants have captured increasing attention due to their ecological necessity. In this paper, 3 bio‐based flame retardants were synthesized from abundant and more importantly renewable vanillin, and their chemical structures were determined by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. They were used together with APP (an environment‐friendly commercial flame retardant) to improve the fire resistance of bisphenol A epoxy resin. With the addition APP content of 15 phr, the modified bisphenol A epoxy resin could reach UL‐94V0 rating during vertical burning test and limit oxygen index values of above 35%, but reducing APP content to 10 phr, the flame retardancy became very poor. With the total addition content of 10 phr, the epoxy resins modified by 7 to 9 phr APP and 1 to 3 phr bio‐based flame retardants with epoxy groups or more benzene rings showed excellent flame retardancy with UL‐94V0 rating and limit oxygen index values of around 29%. The T_gs of the epoxy resins could be remained or even increased after introducing bio‐based flame retardants, as the control; those of APP alone‐modified epoxy resins compromised a lot. The green synergistic flame‐retardant systems have a great potential to be used in high‐performance materials.     

Synthesis and properties of phosphorus-containing bio-based epoxy resin from itaconic acid

A phosphorus-containing bio-based epoxy resin (EADI) was synthesized from itaconic acid (IA) and 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene 10-oxide (DOPO). As a matrix, its cured epoxy network with methyl hexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) as the curing agent showed comparable glass-transition temperature and mechanical properties to diglycidyl ether in a bisphenol A (DGEBA) system as well as good flame retardancy with UL94 V-0 grade during a vertical burning test. As a reactive flame retardant, its flame-resistant effect on DGEBA/MHHPA system as well as its influence on the curing behavior and the thermal and mechanical properties of the modified epoxy resin were investigated. Results showed that after the introduction of EADI, not only were the flame retardancy determined by vertical burning test, LOI measurement, and thermogravimetric analysis significantly improved, but also the curing reactivity, glass transition temperature (T _g), initial degradation temperature for 5% weight loss (T _d(5%)), and flexural modulus of the cured system improved as well. EADI has great potential to be used as a green flame retardant in epoxy resin systems.     

Flame retardancy of fibre-reinforced epoxy resin composites for aerospace applications

The applicability of phosphorus-containing reactive amine, which can be used in epoxy resins both as crosslinking agent and as flame retardant, was compared in an aliphatic and an aromatic epoxy resin system. In order to fulfil the strong requirements on mechanical properties of the aircraft and aerospace applications, where they are mostly supposed to be applied, carbon fibre-reinforced composites were prepared. The flame retardant performance was characterized by relevant tests and mass loss type cone calorimeter. Besides the flame retardancy, the tensile and bending characteristics and interlaminar shear strength were evaluated. The intumescence-hindering effect of the fibre reinforcement was overcome by forming a multilayer composite, consisting of reference composite core and intumescent epoxy resin coating layer, which proved to provide simultaneous amelioration of flame retardancy and mechanical properties of epoxy resins.     

A vanillin-derived flame retardant based on 2-aminopyrimidine for enhanced flame retardancy and mechanical properties of epoxy resin

In order to give epoxy resin good flame retardance, a novel bio-based flame retardant based on 2-aminopyrimidine (referred to as VAD) was synthesized from renewable vanillin as one of the starting materials. Its structure was confirmed by NMR and mass spectra. The epoxy resins containing VAD were prepared by utilizing 4,4-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) as a co-curing agent, and their flame-retardant, mechanical and thermal properties and corresponding mechanisms were studied. VAD accelerated the cross-linking reaction of DDM and E51 (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A). 12.5 wt% VAD made the epoxy resin achieve UL-94 V-0 rating and its limited oxygen index (LOI) value increase from 22.4% to 32.3%. The cone calorimetric testing results revealed the decline in the values of total heat release (THR) and peak of heat release rate (pk-HRR) and the obvious enhancement of residue yield. A certain amount of VAD enhanced the flame inhibition, charring and barrier effects, resulting in good flame retardance of the epoxy resin. Furthermore, the tensile strength, flexural strength and flexural modulus of the epoxy resin with 12.5 wt% loading of VAD were 6.5%, 14.9%, 15.2% higher than those of EP, indicating the strengthening effect of VAD. This work guarantees VAD to be a promising flame retardant for enhancing the fire retardancy of epoxy resin without compromising its mechanical properties.     

Flame retardant polyoxymethylene with aluminium hydroxide/melamine/novolac resin synergistic system

Polyoxymethylene (POM), having the lowest limiting oxygen index (LOI) (only ∼ 15%), is well known as the most difficult to be flame retarded plastic among all the polymers. In this paper, a novel synergistic flame retardant system composed of aluminium hydroxide (ATH), melamine (ME) and novolac resin was designed and successfully applied to flame retard POM. ATH took effects through heat absorption and water release. Both ME and novolac could react with the decomposition product of POM, formaldehyde, thus improving the flame retardancy. Particularly, novolac resin and ME played the roles of macromolecular charring agent and gas source, enhancing the flame retarding actions in the condensed and gaseous phases, respectively. This ternary synergistic system exhibited fine flame retardancy for POM (UL94 V-1 rating for 1.6 mm bar), and the obtained flame retardant POM also showed good processability and mechanical properties due to the lubrication, compatibilization and aid-dispersion effects of novolac resin.     

Intrinsically flame retardant epoxy resin - Fire performance and background - Part I

The flame retardant effect of newly synthesized phosphorus-containing reactive amine, which can be used both as crosslinking agent in epoxy resins and as a flame retardant, was investigated. The effect of montmorillonite and sepiolite additives on the fire induced degradation was compared to pristine epoxy resin. The effect of combining the organophosphorous amine with clay minerals was also studied. It could be concluded that the synthesized phosphorus-containing amine, TEDAP can substitute the traditional epoxy resin curing agents providing additionally excellent flame retardancy: the epoxy resins flame retarded this way reach 960 °C GWFI value, 33 LOI value and V-0 UL-94 rating - compared to the 550 °C GWFI value, 21 LOI value and “no rate” UL-94 classification of the reference epoxy resin. The peak of heat release was reduced to 1/10 compared to non-flame retarded resin, furthermore a shift in time was observed, which increases the time to escape in case of fire. The flame retardant performance can be further improved by incorporating clay additives: the LOI and the HRR results showed that the optimum of flame retardant effect of clay additives is around 1 mass% filler level in AH-16-TEDAP system. Applying a complex method for mechanical and structural characterization of the intumescent char it was determined that the flame retarded system forms significantly more and stronger char of better uniformity with smaller average bubble size. Incorporation of clay additives (owing to their bubble nucleating activity) results in further decrease in average bubble diameter.     

Comparative study of boron compounds and aluminum trihydroxide as flame retardant additives in epoxy resin

The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the flame retardant properties of boron compounds with respect to aluminum trihydroxide (ATH) in an epoxy system based on bisphenol A epichlorohydrin‐based epoxy resin and cycloaliphatic polyamine‐based hardener. Six different boron compounds including colemanite (C), ulexite (U), boric acid (BA), boric oxide (BO), melamine borate (MB) and guanidinium nonaborate (GB) were used as flame retardant additive. The flame retardant properties of epoxy‐based composites were investigated using limiting oxygen index (LOI), UL 94 standards both in vertical and horizontal position, thermogravimetric analysis, cone calorimeter and scanning electron microscopy. According to flammability test results, boron compounds except for C and U showed better performance than ATH. According to the LOI results, 40% BA containing sample had the highest LOI value of 28.5, while 30% MB, 35% GB and 40% BA containing samples had the highest UL 94V rating (V0). According to the cone calorimeter test results, all boron containing samples had better fire performances than ATH containing sample; 40 wt% BO containing sample showed the lowest peak heat release rate, average heat release rate and total heat release values. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Highly efficient multielement flame retardant for multifunctional epoxy resin with satisfactory thermal,flame‐retardant,and mechanical properties

Multifunctional epoxy resins with excellent, thermal, flame‐retardant, and mechanical properties are extremely important for various applications. To solve this challenging problem, a novel highly efficient multielement flame retardant (PMSBA) is synthesized and the flame‐retardant and mechanical properties of modified epoxy resins are greatly enhanced without significantly altering their and thermal properties by applying the as‐synthesized PMSBA. The limiting oxygen index value reaches up to 29.6% and could pass the V‐0 rating in the UL‐94 test with even low P content (0.13%). Furthermore, cone calorimetry results demonstrate that 30.3% reduction in the peak heat release rate for the sample with 10.0 wt% PMSBA is achieved. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy indicate that Si‐C, Si‐N, and phosphoric acid derivative can be transformed into a multihole and intumescent char layer as an effective barrier, preserving the epoxy resin structure from fire. More importantly, mechanical properties such as impact strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength are also increased by 63.86%, 33.54%, and 15.65%, respectively, which show the incorporation of PMSBA do not deteriorate the mechanical properties of modified epoxy resins. All the results show that PMSBA is a promising strategy for epoxy resin with satisfactory, thermal, flame‐retardant, and mechanical properties.     

Synthesis and properties of a phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy resin based on bis-phenoxy (3-hydroxy) phenyl phosphine oxide

A reactive phosphorus-containing compound, bis-phenoxy (3-hydroxy) phenyl phosphine oxide (BPHPPO) was first successfully synthesized to produce the phosphorus-containing flame retardant epoxy resin (BPHPPO-EP). The chemical structures were characterized from FTIR, MS, NMR spectra and elemental analyses. Thermal degradation behaviors and flame retardant properties of the cured epoxy resins were investigated from the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) test using 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) as curing agent. The high char yields and the high limiting oxygen index values were found to certify the great flame retardancy of this phosphorus-containing epoxy resin.     

双酚A双(二苯基)磷酸酯对环氧树脂的阻燃性能

采用双酚A双(二苯基)磷酸酯(BDP)、有机改性蒙脱土(OMMT)和环氧树脂(EP),分别制备了阻燃环氧树脂(BDP-EP)和阻燃纳米材料(BDP-OMMT-EP).利用氧指数、水平垂直燃烧、热重分析以及锥形量热等技术探讨了阻燃材料的阻燃性能和阻燃机理.实验结果证明,BDP-EP和BDP-OMMT-EP的最大热释放速率和平均热释放速率等参数都降低了,但是BDP的阻燃效果优于BDP-OMMT,即BDP和OMMT没有协同阻燃作用.     

Influence of oxidation state of phosphorus on the thermal and flammability of polyurea and epoxy resin

The focus of this study is an investigation of the effect of oxidation state of phosphorus in phosphorus-based flame retardants on the thermal and flame retardant properties of polyurea and epoxy resin. Three different oxidation states of phosphorus (phosphite, phosphate and phosphine oxide) additives, with different thermal stabilities at a constant phosphorus content (1.5 wt.%) have been utilized. Thermal and flame retardant properties were studied by TGA and cone calorimetry, respectively. The thermal stability of both polymers decreases upon the incorporation of phosphorus flame retardants irrespective of oxidation state and a greater amount of residue was observed in the case of phosphite. Phosphate was found to be better flame retardant in polyurea, whereas phosphite is suitable for epoxy resin. Phosphite will react with epoxy resin by trans-esterification, which is demonstrated by FTIR and ³¹P NMR. Further, TG–FTIR and XPS studies also provide information on flame retardancy of both polymers with phosphorus flame retardants.     

磷杂菲类阻燃剂的合成及其与聚磷酸铵复合膨胀体系对环氧树脂的阻燃性能研究

以9,10-二氢-9-氧杂-10-磷杂菲-10-氧化物(DOPO)、五硫化二磷(P2S5)为原料合成9,10-二氢-9-氧杂-10-磷杂菲-10-硫化物(DOPS),并将DOPS与聚磷酸铵(APP)组成复合阻燃剂,用于环氧树脂(EP)的阻燃改性.通过氧指数(LOI)、垂直燃烧(UL-94)、热失重(TGA)、锥形量热(CONE)和扫描电镜(SEM)等方法对改性后的环氧树脂的阻燃性能和阻燃机理进行了测试和分析.实验结果表明,DOPS/APP阻燃体系对EP具有很好的阻燃性能,且复配阻燃剂的阻燃效果比单一的阻燃剂阻燃效果好;其中,当阻燃剂的总添加量达到30%时即W_(DOPS)=10%、W_(APP)=20%时,阻燃EP复合材料的LOI值可达到29.2%,垂直燃烧等级达到UL-94 V-0级,残炭量可达49.3%.     

Co-flame retarding effect of ethanolamine modified titanium-containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes in epoxy resin

A metal-doped organic and inorganic hybrid polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) with a titanium atom in the POSS cage and an ethanolamine substitute group in the corner, namely MEA-Ti-POSS, was synthesized through simple condensation reaction and substitute reaction. It was blended with 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) to form a kind of blending-type flame retardant system for the modification of epoxy resins. The thermal stability, flame retardancy and mechanical properties of cured epoxy resin composites were studied. Comparing with pure epoxy resin, the LOI value of EP/MEA-Ti-POSS/DOPO composites was raised from 25.2% to 32.7%, and the UL-94 grade reached V-0 level at a loading of the mixture of 5% MEA-Ti-POSS and 5% DOPO. In addition, the cone calorimetry results showed that the heat release rate, total heat release and total smoke production as well as smoke production rate were all reduced during the combustion of EP/MEA-Ti-POSS/DOPO composites. The residual char analysis revealed that carbon residues of EP/MEA-Ti-POSS/DOPO composite served as a physical protective layer to insulate the oxygen and combustible gases to reduce the ablation of the matrix. It was concluded that the mixture of MEA-Ti-POSS and DOPO not only effectively raised the thermal stability and flame retardancy of epoxy composited materials, but also improved their mechanical properties, which expanded a promising application of the metal-POSS derivatives as non-halogen additives in the flame retardant polymers.     

Flame‐retardant epoxy resin compounds containing novolac derivatives with aromatic compounds

New flame‐retardant epoxy resin compounds containing novolac derivatives with specific aromatic compounds have been developed. After crosslinking reactions between epoxy resin and hardener, the epoxy resin compounds formed highly flame‐retardant network structures that were obtained by including biphenylene and phenylene moieties in the main chains of novolac‐type epoxy resin and phenol novolac resin hardener. The high flame retardancy is due mainly to the stable foam layers that form during combustion because of the low elasticity at high temperatures and the high pyrolysis resistance of the compounds. Furthermore, the addition of excess phenol derivative hardener not only facilitates the formation of the foam layers by decreasing the crosslink densities but also reduces the amount of flammable substances generated from the epoxy resin compounds during combustion. The use of a multifunctional epoxy resin containing four glycidyloxy groups in the compounds improved characteristics such as heat resistance and strength at high temperatures, while maintaining excellent flame retardancy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A New Nano‐Structured Flame‐Retardant Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

A modified nano‐hydrotalcite was used as inorganic flame‐retardant fillers for poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) polymers. A flame‐retardant compound was obtained from layered hydrotalcite (LDH) dispersed in brominated polystyrene (PBS) solution and then solvent evaporation from the dissolved PBS samples. The compound of PBS/LDH was characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and was found to have high aspect ratio LDH dispersed in the PBS matrix. Flame‐retardant PET composite was prepared by melt‐compounding the flame‐retardant compound of PBS/LDH and PET. Improvement in the fire retardancy of the nano‐flame‐retardant PET composite obtained was found by measuring the oxygen index. The nanostructure of flame‐retardant PET composite was chirecterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of flame‐retardant PET composite. The mechanical properties of the flame‐retardant PET nano‐composite were also characterized.     

Synergistic effect of combined dimethyl methylphosphonate with aluminum hydroxide or ammonium polyphosphate retardant systems on the flame retardancy and thermal properties of unsaturated polyester resin

A series of flame-retardant unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) were prepared by the addition of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) with various amounts of aluminum hydroxide (ATH) or ammonium polyphosphate (APP) as the flame retardants. The combustion resistance effects of ATH/DMMP and APP/DMMP systems were evaluated by limiting oxygen index test and vertical burning test (UL-94). The thermal properties of UPR were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. The structure of char was observed by scanning electron microscopy. DMMP incorporated with ATH or APP improved the flame retardancy and thermal properties of UPR. However, the fire-retardant mechanism of these two systems were different: The ATH/DMMP system provided synergistic effect in charring property of the UPR, produced great amount of residual char, and thus revealed the excellent flame retardancy. The APP/DMMP system further improved the flame retardancy of the UPR due to the change in the residual char structure rather than the increase in the production of char.     

聚磷酸酯阻燃剂复配聚磷酸铵对环氧树脂阻燃性能的影响

合成了一种9,10-二氢-9-氧杂-10-磷杂菲-10-氧化物(DOPO)的衍生物——聚苯氧基磷酸-2-10-氢-9-氧杂-磷杂菲基对苯二酚酯(POPP), 以间苯二胺(m-PDA)为固化剂, 环氧树脂(EP)为基料, POPP为阻燃剂, 复配聚磷酸铵(APP), 制备了不同磷含量的阻燃环氧树脂. 利用极限氧指数(LOI)和垂直燃烧(UL94)实验表征了环氧树脂的阻燃性能; 以热重分析、 锥型量热和扫描电镜分析了阻燃环氧树脂的热性能和表面形态. 研究结果表明, 阻燃剂总加入量(质量分数)为5%时即可达到UL94 V-0级, 同时LOI值为27.7%; 当总加入量为15%, 即w_POPP=5%, w_APP=10 %时, 其LOI值可达到33.8%. 随着磷含量的增加, 阻燃环氧树脂的初始降解温度略有降低, 但高温下的残炭率明显增加. POPP/APP的加入在很大程度上降低了环氧树脂的热释放速率、 有效燃烧热、 烟释放量和有毒气体释放量. 阻燃环氧树脂在高温下形成比较稳定的致密膨胀炭层, 为底层的环氧树脂主体隔绝了分解产物及热量和氧气交换, 增强了高温下的热稳定性.     

A facile strategy to fabricate intumescent fire-retardant and smoke suppression protective coatings for natural rubber

As flammable natural rubber (NR) becomes more ubiquitous in industrial fields, there is a growing need for safe and effective flame retardant treatments through efficient techniques. Remarkably, our developed highly efficient natural tannic acid (TA)-based intumescent flame-retardant system (AGT) has the unique function in the rubber flame retardant aspect. Meanwhile, the developed coating method through polyurethane elastomer (PU) both as adhesive medium and a carbonforming agent can not only minimize the influence of flame retardant on the desirable intrinsic properties of base polymer and also maximize the efficiency of flame retardant. The flame-retardant coating (AGT/PU) exhibits highly efficient flame retardant performances reflected by a 31.9% reduction in peak heat release rate and a 27.3% reduction in total heat release and a 26.2% reduction in total smoke production with 50 wt% loading in 1 mm thick coating due to synergistic flame retardant effects. More importantly, the excellent flame retardancy performance are obtained by the PU@AGT10, as reflected in flame retardancy index (FRI) value of 11.88 makes it as excellent flame retardancy performance. While many physically mixed flame retardants are usually seriously detrimental to mechanical properties of NR, the influence of AGT/PU coating on mechanical properties of NR decreases obviously because fire retardant just directly impacts on PU adhesive layer rather than NR matrix, and the reinforcement function of graphene is also much significant. Moreover, the coating method requires just less flame retardant to achieve high flame retardant effect for NR. These findings suggest that significant opportunities for flame retardant polymer materials in industry.     

Synthesis of bio‐based poly (cyclotriphosphazene‐resveratrol) microspheres acting as both flame retardant and reinforcing agent to epoxy resin

A highly cross‐linked poly (cyclotriphosphazene‐resveratrol) microsphere (PRV) was synthesized by using hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) and bio‐based resveratrol (REV) as raw materials, and the obtained PRV microspheres were applied to improve the flame retardancy and mechanical property of epoxy resin (EP). The TGA results showed that the PRV microsphere is an excellent charring agent and the char yield is as high as 62% at 800°C. The incorporation of PRV makes the initial degradation earlier yet significantly increases the char residue of EP composites. Moreover, the introduction of PRV microspheres into EP greatly promoted the flame retardancy performance. Under 3% of addition of PRV microspheres, the peak heat release rate (PHRR) and total heat release (THR) were decreased by 58.3% and 29.6%, respectively, the limited oxygen index (LOI) value was increased to 29.7% from 25.3% of pure EP. In addition, because of the uniform distribution in EP matrix and the enhancing effect of PRV microspheres, the mechanical properties including tensile modulus of EP composites were strengthened. PRV microspheres in this paper provide a possibility to synthesize a dual functional filler, which acts as both flame retardant and strengthening agent.     

Flame retardancy and heat resistance of phenol-biphenylene-type epoxy resin compound modified with benzoguanamine

The flame retardancy and heat resistance of a phenol-biphenylene-type epoxy resin compound, which forms a self-extinguishing network structure, were increased by the inclusion of a benzoguanamine-modified phenol biphenylene resin. The benzoguanamine-modified phenol biphenylene resin contains a benzoguanamine unit to release non-flammable nitrogen substances during ignition and to increase the resin's reactivity toward epoxy resins, and biphenylene units to keep the resin's thermal degradation and water resistance. The addition of the benzoguanamine-modified phenol biphenylene resin in the epoxy resin compound improved the epoxy resin compound's flame retardancy and heat resistance, and also increased its glass transition temperature while maintaining its water resistance and mechanical properties. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.